


Bug And Shell(d)

by SpartanXHunterX



Series: Bug And Shell(d) [1]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Abused Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Awesome Master Fu (Miraculous Ladybug), Bad Parent Gabriel Agreste, Badass Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Chloé Bourgeois Redemption, F/M, Gay Chloé Bourgeois, Kwami Swap, Nooroo Needs a Hug (Miraculous Ladybug), Not Beta Read, Plagg is a Little Shit (Miraculous Ladybug), Turtle Nino Lahiffe | Carapace
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-29
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:27:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 54,139
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23843737
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpartanXHunterX/pseuds/SpartanXHunterX
Summary: If Fu did not receive the small level of training that he did, he would not hesitate to release the power of the Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculous.But he knew better then that, he could not risk them to a powerful foe. At least... Not both.He looked to his wrist, where the Turtle Miraculous had been for years. "Wayzz." The Kwami of protection Looked at him. " how do you feel about a new holder? "
Relationships: Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Lê Chiến Kim & Nino Lahiffe, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Nino Lahiffe, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Tikki, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug/Nino Lahiffe, Nino Lahiffe & Wayzz
Series: Bug And Shell(d) [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1718143
Comments: 31
Kudos: 145





	1. Origins Part 1: Ladybug And Carapace

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Evil lurks, emotions become fuel.  
> It's time for hero's to rise, who better then one who can fix the damage and one who can protect them?

"Yes Master." A small butterfly like creature spoke, head limped down and voice filled with sadness as they addressed their owner before them.

The tall figure, shrouded in the darkness of the room, ran their fingers over the item in their hand before clipping it to their top close by their neck, watching the butterflies around them grow agitated.

"Nooroo, Dark Wings! Rise!" The butterflies swarmed to the man, covering him head to toe, a purple light erupted beneath them. After a moment the insects burst forth from the man, showcasing his new look by stepping forward into the light that came from the butterfly themed window.

"From this day onward, I shall be known as... Hawkmoth." Hawkmoth slammed down his cane as he began to chuckle darkly, sending the close by butterflies into a energetic state.

Soon, soon the man would strike, soon he would have the Ultimate Power.

* * *

Nestled within a small box, a small green turtle like being was sleeping, breathing without making a sound.

This being, a Kwami, shivered as they slept before suddenly jolting awake as it felt a familiar yet unwelcome aura. Green eyes darted open and without hesitation flew up and through the structure of the item their bed was housed in.

Once in the open space of the room, he was quick to spot the small figure of Master Fu crouched down next to his current patient. Under normal circumstances Wayzz would have waited to speak to his master and long time friend but he knew the matter was urgent.

"Master," he was quick to fly just behind him, catching the man twitch at the sound of his voice. " Master! "

Seeing his patient turning around Fu clasped his palms together before acting like he was undergoing a ritual as the man cast a curious gaze at the small old man. "Master, Master..." Pretending to only just notice the man gaze Fu have him an apologetic look. " Chanting, all part of the treatment. " He continued his previous motion of moving his clasped hands from side to side. "Master, Master."

He let out a deep hum as if preparing to continue before he cast a game curious look to the clock in his room. "Oh my would go look at the time!" Her quickly helped the man raise to his feet, surprising him with the dexterity he possessed that was hidden by his small and old frame.

"Thanks for coming, see you next week." Fu ignored the man's confused protests as he pushed him out the door and closed it behind him. At worst he would lose a customer, at best the man would just think he was slightly senile. Ultimately, it didn't effect him.

Turning to the Kwami he cast a look that urged him to explain himself. They had plenty of rules in place and for Wayzz, off all of them, to break one of the most important ones meant something bad has happened.

"My apologies master but it's the moth miraculous, I felt it's aura."

" The moth miraculous? " Fu rubbed his hand over his chin, eyes hardening as he tried to remember what it looked like. "I thought it had been lost forever." Slowly he stepped closer to the middle of the room, trying to gather his thoughts.

The moth miraculous was one of the two missing miraculous, they had been missing for nearly two hundred years now, for one to suddenly be active? It was suspicious.

Wayzz seemed to pick up his thoughts as he floated to get around to look him in the eye.

"Master, it's a negative aura, I fear it may have gotten into the hands of a dark power."

A negative aura? That meant that whoever had it no doubt had cruel intentions in regards to using it. That could not be good at all. With the miraculous close enough that Wayzz could feel it's power meant it was probably somewhere in Paris, specifics were lost to the two of them.

"We must find Nooroo and his miraculous, if it has gotten into the wrong hands, there's no telling what evil will come upon this world."

He would have to fight this evil, he would not allow one of the Miraculous to be misused like this. He was responsible for this mess, he would have to clean it up.

Raising his right hand he grabbed his right fore arm with his left hand, it being settled underneath the Turtle themed bracelet he wore. "Time to transform!" His arms moved on their own, going through the motions once more, as he lifted his leg he began to speak. " Wayz-" his back cracked, pain flared up in him as he fell to his knees, bracing himself against the mat in the middle of the room.

Wayzz floated down, settling himself closer to Fu's eye level. "Please master, be reasonable. You are-"

"Still young." Fu interrupted, knowing exactly what his friend was going to tell him. "I'm only one hundred and eighty six." The two exchanged looks before Fu sighed, slowly raising back to his feet as the pain subsided. "You are right Wayzz, I cannot do this alone."

Slowly the elderly man moved towards the old gramophone, his thumbs clicked on the eyes of the ornate Dragon carvings, they glowed red as a small panel opened up revealing small buttons. "We'll need some help." He clicked the buttons in the correct sequence then watched as parts of the gramophone moved until the top opened up and a black and red box covered with Chinese symbols appeared.

Slowly he reached out and opened it, his eyes drawn to the seven different slots that were available. The ladybug earrings sat on the left of the center slots while the ring of the black Cat sat on the right.

Creation and destruction. Yin and yang. Each a side of a single coin.

If Fu did not receive the small amount of training that he did, he would not hesitate to release the power of the Ladybug and Black cat miraculous'.

They were powerful, more powerful then all the other miraculous, especially when together. But he knew better then that, he could not risk them to a powerful foe... At least, not both.

The ladybug was required to be active to combat the butterfly, with its ability to purify corruption. However, it was a bad idea to use the Ladybug without the black cat, as it could cause an imbalance in the delicate forces of good and bad luck.

It would not take much to fix this problem, he would wield the ring, he just needed to figure out which other miraculous would be best for a partner to Tikki's future chosen.

He looked to his wrist, where the Turtle Miraculous had been for years. "Wayzz." The Kwami of protection Looked at him. "How do you feel about a new holder?"

Wayzz's eyes opened wide, surprise evident in his face as he let Master Fu's words settle into his mind.

"What?"

* * *

The blaring of the alarm disturbed the body that rested under the sheets, they shuffled as the insistent ringing continued. With a groan a tan hand slowly inched out from the sheets, tapping against the desk next to the bed until it came in contact with the phone that was making the noise.

The body sat up, the Moroccan boy blinking at the light as his sheet fell off of him. He yawned as he stretched, clicking the alarm off as he did so. He plucked his glasses off of the desk, put them over his eyes and then pushed them up the bridge of his nose.

Running his tongue over the roof of his mouth he cringed at how dry it was. First things first he needed a drink. Throwing his covers to the side he stood up, bare feet trudging along the carpet as he made for his door.

He'd make the bed later. ~~No he wouldn't.~~

He trudged into the kitchen, easily noting the silence. Normally Chris would be watching TV or talking to their mother, the silence only told him that his mother had left early this morning and took him with her.

He was a little curious as to how he slept through the fuss that Chris had to have made that morning but he quickly attributed that to him staying up till two in the morning working on his music and not sleeping like he should have been.

It was a good thing he and Chris no longer shared a room. That would have caused problems.

Pulling a glass out from the cupboard he filled it with water from the tap before tipping it back to have a drink. He downed half the cup before he felt the need to breath kick in, feeling better he was quick to make himself a bowl of cereal before he sat at the island table and ate in silence.

one thing about having a noisy sibling is, once their gone, it's far too quiet.

As much as Nino would have liked to not go to school, Like many sixteen year olds, he knew his mother would give his rear a firm kick if he didn't.

He didn't dislike school, far from it. He loved his teacher, Miss bustier made the lessons nice and understandable, what he hated about school was Chloé.

The mayor's daughter was a right horrible person, dragging the class down to put herself up and Miss Bustier couldn't do anything about it, not without Chloé threatening to call her 'busy daddy the mayor' to have her fired.

Worse of all Chloé had taken to tormenting one of his friends, Marinette, for the past few years. It was small jabs and petty insults with some minor threats but Nino knew it was enough to send his friend into a small pit of self-confidence issues.

Nino's cheeks grew warm as he remembered about his friend... Ok friend was a little too... Vague.

The girl had wormed her way into his heart over the past few years. How could he not form a crush on one of the most caring and giving girls he had ever met. Scratch that, THE most caring and giving girl he had met.

He doubted there was anyone who could match up to her. At least to her generosity and kindness, just imagining one of her smiles was enough to make his heart speed up a few beats, remembering how they always brightened any room she was in.

Shaking off his thoughts he was quick to deposit his bowl and spoon into the sink, he'd clean those later. ~~Probably~~

Within the confines of his room Nino quickly dressed himself. Outfitted in his light blue jeans and a darker blue short sleeve T-shirt he shuffled slightly, feeling a little... Exposed. He didn't understand why until he stole a glance in the mirror in his room. Seeing his short brown hair instead of his red cap reminded him why.

Picking his hat up from his desk he fastened it on his head, he began to feel better already, spotting his headphones next to where his hat had been he placed those around his neck, feeling a little more secure with himself.

Knowing he had a fair amount of time to reach the school, he only lived a fair twenty minute walk away, he picked up his phone and pocketed it before swiping his bag off of his desk. being sure to pick up the letter that had his name on it too.

In some twisted sense of fate that would not come to his mind many months later, Nino left his lunch on the kitchen counter.

* * *

Outside his home Nino placed his headphones over his ears and thumbed through his playlist, he was not really one for the noise that was made by commuters. Finding a calm song he put it on, lowering the volume so he could keep alert to anything around him.

His mother was always grilling him over wearing them while out and about but he had learned to be ever aware of his surroundings.

He set off for school, fingers tapping against his thigh to the rhythm of his music, his eyes scanned over each person he saw, noticing who was stepping where.

He forgot about his troubles with Chloé, his crush on Marinette was flung to the back of his mind as he was lost to the music that sounded in his ears. Any troubles that could have run through his head were lost to the music.

His eyes glanced to the side of him, just to make sure he wasn't about to collide with anyone. He spotted an elderly gentlman, dressed in a Hawaiian Shirt, slowly walking along with the assistance from His cane. A lot of assistance, actually.

Nino was about to move over more, to give the man some more space to not obstruct or trip him when suddenly, the man's cane fell into A semi deep hole in the sidewalk, embedding a good inch or two into the ground. The sudden shift of balance sent the man toppling forwards, just slightly out of Nino's way.

Or he would have, had Nino not shot forwards, arms outstretched and knees bending downwards to catch the man long before he hit the floor. Even if the fall was minuscule, Nino was certain that a man of his age would have been more harmed then anyone else.

His slender frame hardly moved as the man collided with him before he braced him up and guided him to stand on his own two feet again. He quickly whipped his earphones off, not noticing them collide to the floor behind him, the casing breaking, so he could hear what the man was saying.

"Thank you young man." Nino gave him a gentle smile, keeping one hand on the elders arm as he used his other hand to pry the cane free from its concrete trap.

"Its no problem du- I-I mean sir. " He flushed slightly in embarrassment, he'd always had a problem being formal, when it mattered the most anyway. He kept trying to remove the cane so he didn't need to look at the man's face. "If not me, then someone else would have helped," he chuckled slightly, remembering that this encounter was familiar. "You should thank my friend actually, she's pretty clumsy, so I'm used to suddenly leaping to catch her."

" Perhaps you are right, someone would have helped me. " The old man watched as Nino managed to pry the cane out of the ground. "But today, it was you and I cannot be more greatful. These old bones aren't what they used to be." He chuckled, letting Nino know that he was joking... Mostly.

Slowly Nino guided the man's hands to the top of his cane, bearing his weight until he was propping himself up on his own.

"Well, glad I could help du- I mean sir." Nino took a step backwards and promptly cringed at the sound of snapping plastic. Looking down at his foot he saw the crushed remains of his headphones, oh, he would need to replace those.

"Oh, I am so sorry young man." Nino simply waved his hand in a dismissing manner, cutting off the elder man before he knelt down and picked up the remains.

"No, no. It's my fault, I should have been more careful." Nino shrugged as he placed the broken electronic in his bag, he'd throw it away later. "I guess I've been meaning to get new ones anyway, just never had a real reason."

He stood up before rolling his shoulders. "You going to be alright?" He gestured to his cane. "Don't need me to walk you somewhere?"

" Oh, no. I couldn't take up more of your time. I'll be fine, you should go and thank you again young man. "

"Take care."

Fu watched as Nino walked down the street, seeing that the sidewalk had cleared substantially he quickly abandoned his weak old man routine. Placing his cane over his shoulder as he walked with a straight back. His hand fiddled with the ornate wooden box that had been in his pocket.

"Thank you indeed." Fu was quick to make his way to his next destination, he still had to test out the candidates for the ladybug miraculous yet.

* * *

As Nino walked into class he was quick to note that the room was barely filled out, he could see Max, Mylene, Kim and rose. Max and Kim were sharing a desk, Mylene was in front of them while rose was behind them.

The tall jock looked over to him and his face broke out in a smile. "Hey Nino! Look! I'm in your class this year!"

" I'm surprised, I thought you would have been held back, given your low grades. "

Kim's face contorted into a frown, hurt plastered on his face for a moment before a wide grin settled in its place. "You say that now, but we both know that you'd be lost without me."

" Like that time we got lost looking for that 'magic ice cream store'? "

"Low blow dude." The two of them fist bumped each other as Nino ascended the stairs, no hard feelings passed between them. Kim turned in his seat to look at the back of Nino's head. "Just remember that we were nine when that happened. Can't hold that against me forever."

" I'm trying. " The two boys chuckled at that, this was going to be a interesting year with the two of them together in class, it would be even better if Marinette could also be in this class too.

It was no secret that Nino, Kim and Marinette were good friends and had been for years. Their mothers had all met around when they were four years old and the trio just clicked together. They didn't get to spend as much time together as they liked but neither of them took that poorly.

Lowering himself into a seat at the back desk on the side furthest away from the window, the same seat he was in last year, his hands automatically reached for his headphones before he remembered what had happened to them. He was a little bummed out by that but he didn't put too much thought into it, he wasn't going to feel guilty over helping someone.

Time ticked on by as miss Bustier organized her desk, she looked up to see the currently present students before pursing her lips slightly. The bell rang, the door burst open and a frazzled looking Marinette almost tripped over her feet to come to a stop.

Nino had to stop himself from chuckling, that was such a Marinette style entrance. Kim, however, did not even try to silence his amusement. This earning him one of Marinette's oh so cute pouts that made Nino's heart flutter.

Did he ever mention how bad he had it? Cause he had it bad for the girl.

"Nino," he looked up to miss Bustier. "Why don't you have a seat in the front row this year?"

He let out a quiet noise of annoyance as he picked his bag up and moved down the steps to sit himself at the desk in front of the desk Marinette was going to sit herself at. Nino was certain that his teacher was doing this so he couldn't be stuck daydreaming when he looked at Marinette, it has happened a lot last year after all.

"Here Nino," his eyes cast to the side to see Marinette offering him a macaroon.

"Thanks dudette." He picked one up and nibbled it, the taste being very pleasant. He didn't notice Marinette going to the others to offer them the treats until he heard kims exited yell. The other students were all starting to come in now, Marinette offered them the treats too, some declined while others were eager to take Her up on the offer.

As Marinette took her seat a hand slammed down on the desk, how Chloé had gotten past him he'd never know.

"Marinette Dupain-Cheng." She even had her snooty voice going already.

"Ugh, here we go again." Nino sympathized for her, it wasn't easy dealing with Chloé. Ever.

"Class hasn't even started Chloé, couldn't you wait any longer?" Nino found himself speaking, catching the attention of Marinette, Chloé and Sabrina.

"Mind your own business Lahiffe."

So he did, dealing with Chloé wasn't worth the headache that came with it so he was content to ignore her. He didn't snap out of until the new girl, had she introduced herself?, Began to drag Marinette to the other front desk where she had been sitting.

For the second time today he found himself reacting, reaching for and grabbing Marinette, one hand on her arm the other grabbing her waist to prevent her from falling down the last step.

"Thanks Nino. "

"No problem." He sat back down, close by the door.

Class passed by in a blur of talking and note taking, had Nino still been at the back he would have seen Chloé get sadder as time passed, would have seen her check her phone and pout.

* * *

Outside the school a blond haired boy had been running to school, he would have made it before his drivers car too, had he not bumped into an old man. Being a gentleman he stopped to help him back onto his feet and hand him his cane and double checked to be sure he was alright.

The boy turned to get into school, seeing both his bodyguard and his father's assistant standing at the steps with emotionless expressions before gesturing to the car. He slumped in defeat before following them.

"Perhaps if I was willing to part with the ring." The old man mused to himself, his own fingers stroking against the silver ring on his right hand. "He might be a good match, We may never know. "

* * *

The bell rang and The students Began to pack up, in the back of the class Kim held out a bit of paper towards Ivan shaking it to get his attention.

"Those of you who have P.E. Mr.D'Argencourt is waiting for you at the stadium." Normally Nino would have went too, but he had strained his ankle almost a week ago and was under doctors orders to rest, with today being the last day. He had already handed in his doctors note to principle Damocles and explained that he would use the time to run back home to collect his lunch.

He couldn't believe he left that at home. Nino was halfway out the door when heard Ivan shouting at Kim, he decided to not get involved. He'd ask Kim what that was about later.

When he stepped out onto the street he picked up his pace so he could be quick, if he was fast enough he would have time to meet up with Marinette in the library.

The ground shook and Nino fell to his knees. "KIM! " looking behind him Nino could see...

A giant rock golem. "KIM!" It , No Ivan shouted. That was Ivan's voice.

He didn't stick around to watch, he wasn't crazy, his brain kicked into overdrive and he ran, he ignored the pounding of his feet, the panic of everyone else and the few times he bummed into something, he wasn't sure where he was until he burst into his home. Everything being exactly as he had left it and no-one was home.

Nino was quick to switch the TV on, going to the news channel where a Live stream of Ivan's rampage was being shown. As he placed the remote down his hand brushed against something and he looked down at it. A small red and black box that most definitely had NOT been there this morning, he knew cause that's were his letter had been.

"Huh, what's this?" He was entirely unaware that he had mirrored someone else as they too did the same thing.

He picked it up as he inspected it, seeing what could be Chinese markings over it. He wasn't proficient with Chinese but he knew the very basic's, somehow he had though it was a good idea to learn Mandarin to impress Marinette, only for the girl to not know a single word of it.

The girl only happened to have learned Wenzhounese from her mother.

Curiosity peaked he placed his fingers on the lid before slowly opening it, he didn't get a glance at its contents before a bright green light light erupted from the box.

By instinct he covered his eyes and dropped the box onto the desk again, he rubbed his eyes to sooth the pain before blinking his eyes open, wondering what had happened.

His eyes landed on the small green creature that was floating just before him. It had dark green eyes that had yellow sclerae, a small antenna, a short tail and a slightly darker green shell on its back.

It seemed to float there, expectantly yet Nino could detect a hint of... sadness? From the being.

"Uhh... hello?" Nino wasn't sure what he was doing as he gave the little... Thing, a wave.

"Greetings Nino Lahiffe, I am Wayzz, Kwami of Protection." And suddenly he had even more questions. Questions like: how did you get here? What's a Kwami? How do you know my name?

"Is this where I can make a wish?" Instead that is what came out of His mouth and he instantly wanted to just sew his mouth shut.

It seemed though, that the Kwami was not offended by the question as a small smile was on their lips for a moment. "I'm afraid I don't grant wishes but I can grant you superpowers."

" Super...powers? " Nino blinked at the Kwami, Wayzz. "Like a superhero?"

"Precisely, specifically the power to protect people and right now, Paris needs your help to protect it." Wayzz flew slightly to the side , allowing Nino to focus on the TV again, where he could see Ivan still going on his rampage.

"Well.. Wait me? I'm not... I'm not superhero material. I can't stand violence at all, I don't even know how to fix this. " his hand shot towards the TV, really what could he do?

"You won't be alone, you'll have a partner and it's your main job to protect them, above all else. Second is to assist them in defeating the Akuma and thirdly it is to protect the Miraculous at all cost. "

"Mira- What?" Just how much information was being dumped onto him today? Should he be writing this down?

" Miraculous. " the floating turtle was quick to drop down to the box that they had originally come in and pointed to the abandoned bracelet that was still inside. "This is my miraculous, with this, and me, I can make you a Superhero. "

Nino picked up the bracelet, seeing that it's main body was shaped like that of a turtle, it was a pale green colour with five individual black outlined triangles going around it with each of them pointing to the centre. A string was attached to both the head and tail of the jewelry.

"So... I put this on and?" Wayzz seemed to pick up on Nino's reluctance as he floated fowards before patting his fingers with his own stubble hands.

"I will teach you the activation phrase but first I must teach you the powers you will receive."

" Those empowered with the magic of the Miraculous will gain increased speed, strength and durability. You personally will gain two secret superpowers. "

Nino looked at Wayzz skeptically. "Secret superpowers?"

" Normally I would not permit anyone to have more then one but we are in a desperate situation and every advantage is needed. Firstly is Shell-ter, this will allow you to raise an invulnerable barrier around you but once it is cast your miraculous will be forced into a five minute timer. "

"Once that time is up, you will be forcefully Dr-transformed. The second power is fortify, once activated you will be immovable by outside forces for An extremely short period of time. "

"How short?"

"Fifteen seconds at best, I'm sorry but your not ready to handle anything more then that. I can only do that once per transformation but using it won't force your timer to go off."

" Right, I get it. " Nino slid the bracelet over his right hand, letting the Miraculous rest over his many wrist bands. "Listen little dude, I'll be honest, I don't think I'm cut out for this but I'm going to give it my best ok?" Nino stood, moving to place the box onto his room, just in case his mother or Chris came home.

" Understood, the transformations phrase is 'Shell on'. "

"Shell on?"

That seemed to be all that was needed as his bracelet flashed and Wayzz seemed to dissolve into a light that rushed into the Miraculous. It's colour changed to a dark green with five individual white triangular segments, each with a pale green carving in the centre.

Light flashed over his body by the time it subsided his entire attire had changed.

Looking in the mirror he had a dark green bodysuit with a hoodie, the suit itself was made with tiny hexagonal patterns resembling those on the Miraculous. The hoodie had a silver semicircle on the front, curved red-eye designs on the sides with black and golden details, and two small light green ovals below the bottom of the hood's opening. Over his eyes black goggles with yellow-green lenses had replaced his glasses.

Underneath the suit he had a black collar. On his suit, there were six hexagon-shaped light green circles on his chest, and he has dark gray hexagon-shaped protective pads on his shoulders, elbows, hips, and knees.

He was wearing dark green boots with an indent between his big toe and other toes, dark gray outsoles, and two indents on two sides of each boot. The most surprising thing was the shield that was on his back, it was dark green on one side and light green on the other. The patterns that went across it were very reminiscent of a turtles shell and underbelly.

There was also a tiny replica of the shield on his left hip but he couldn't figure out its purpose immediately.

"Not what I was expecting but, pretty cool." Now to try to chase down and stop a giant rock golem / Ivan before any more damaged could be done.

Who signed him up for this?

* * *

Across from the school, up in the highest room of the local bakery, Marinette Dupain-Cheng looked at herself in the mirror, seeing that her clothes had been replaced by a bodysuit that was mainly black, from her knees inwards was red with black spots, the red became narrowed around her stomach, only allowing for one black spot before they widened and went up to her shoulders.

From the tips of her fingers to her shoulder the material was completely black, save for the red spots on her shoulders and back of her hands. There were small ridges that connected the material between her shoulder and collar, she had a black belt around her waist that held a ladybug themed... yo-yo?

She had large black boots that stopped just below her knees, the boots had red outlines around the sole and front. There was also a red and black domino mask that covered her eyes that also hid many of her freckles from view.

Turning around she saw more red on her back, the two individual shapes where similar to that of a ladybugs shell, they started from her shoulder blades and went to her lower back, they were only separated by the single black line that went between them, each shape had two black spots while a fifth one sat in the middle of it all, half on one side, half on the other being split by the black space between the two 'shells'.

A second looked revealed that it looked like they could lift up, in fact they were slowly moving up and down by the faintest amount.

"Are... Are those wings?"

* * *

Old hands close the ornate box, watching it sink into the Gramophone, to be sealed away once more.

"You're certain you made the right choice?" The voice of the Kwami of destruction sounded just behind him, despite Plagg's natural laziness, even he sounded concerned given the situation.

"I only got it wrong once Plagg, it won't happen again and I refuse to put both yours and Tikki's miraculous at risk. "

"Might not be too late to put me out there too, use Trixx to keep yourself safe. "

"I cannot justify putting a third miraculous into circulation, not with two missing, one of which is in the wrong hands."

If everything turned out alright, then Plagg wouldn't complain, not when he got to laze about all day eating and sleeping.

* * *

"I think I'm getting the hang of this now." Carefully Nino jumped to a close by rooftop, being sure to brace himself as he landed.

He felt... Powerful, like he could take on the world. He wasn't sure if he should be concerned about that or not, maybe it was just the adrenaline talking, he was sure it wasn't normal to jump across the rooftops dressed like a turtle.

He came to a stop at the next gap, noticing a street between the two of them, he wasn't sure if he could make that jump, he didn't seem to be able to, Wayzz hadn't said exactly what he could and couldn't do.

He tensed, prepared and then jumped. He was quick to realised that he had overestimated his abilities as he fell beneath the roof threshold before he even made it halfway across the street. He turned to land on his feet, expecting a painful impact but was met with a soft landing.

"Well, that answers that question. " Thankfully the streets were empty, so no-one saw his major blunder.

The sound of screaming caught his ears and he looked up, seeing a red and black figure falling right towards him. He reached out just as the figure drew close to him, catching them in his arms with no issue. No, a her.

"Well, that's one way to introduce yourself. " Realising he was holding her bridal style he carefully planted her feet on the floor where she proceeded to back up a few steps, giving Nino his first real look at her. "I'm going to assume you're my partner?"

" Uhg, yeah I guess, I'm Ma-... I'm a mess, sorry. " Nino looked closer at her face, seeing an intense look of concentration, did he hear flapping?

"You alright?" That seemed to snap her out of her concentration as she slouched forwards before sighing .

"Yeah I'm fine, just trying to figure these out. " She turned and showed him her back, two red and black sections where lifted up, revealing four translucent wings, two large, two small, that seemed to move like they were alive.

"Don't sweat it, I just fell off the roof trying to jump, so we're both learning new things today."

The sound of rumbling caught their ears and they turned in time to see a far off building collapse down, reminding them that they were out here for a reason.

"Lets go bug, we've got a city to save." Nino didn't bother trying to leap up to the buildings, he knew he couldn't make that if he tried, so he just started running towards the destruction. Behind him his partner hesitated while palming her yo-yo, watching him begin to run towards the danger.

" Trust yourself, trust yourself, trust yourself. " She threw her yo-yo, watching It latch onto a building and promptly screamed again as she was ripped from the ground, her wings flapping wildly as she tried to fly with them.

* * *

In the _Parc des Princes_ the students of D'Argencourt' P.E class were all winding down, doing light stretches and catching their breath. Some were already moving to the exit as class had finished some minutes prior.

The stadium rumbled, the students looked around confused, none aware of what had been transpiring outside of the stadium since before they had even gotten there.

A large stone hand emerged from over the top, startling several students who pointed it out to those who didn't see it. Some began to make a faster move for the entrance, recognising danger when they saw it.

The large rocky figure of stoneheart emerged from the side of the building, landing on top in a way that showed he had managed to jump up from his original position of hanging off the building.

"KIM!" It bellowed, it's voice making the stadium ground shake. "who's the wuss now? "

It, No Ivan, jumped down from the top of the stadium as all of the students Began to run for the stadiums exit, the ground shaking as Stoneheart hit the ground. Dirt and grass flying everywhere.

* * *

Outside Nino was running at full speed, dodging past abandoned and crushed cars, rubble from building and he was pretty sure he had barged past Sabrina's father and his entourage of police officers.

It wasn't like he could stay hidden anyway, with the way Ivan was rampaging it had to be out in the open. He could faintly see his partner flitter into his field of view, she would stop on each rooftop just long enough to analyze her surroundings before throwing her tool again to bring herself closer to where he was heading.

If that really was Ivan, then this would have been the result of whatever Kim had done earlier. Which would mean he would be heading straight to the stadium right where Kim was.

He didn't hesitate to jump over the parked police cars, ignoring the undignified shouts of the officers who tried to stop him. He pushed into the entrance of the stadium just as the other students Began to run out, quickly thinking he leapt up and kicked off of the wall, performing a perfect somersault over the students who cried in alarm in seeing him move so fast

He was going to have to ask Wayzz about that, as he had never done that before in his life.

As he drew close he could see Stoneheart running for Kim, hand outstretched as he stomped on the floor. He didn't see the new girl in his class, phone out recording as he pulled his shield off of his back before putting all his power into a spin before throwing the tool towards the giant golem of stone.

"hey! Rocky Road Reject! Catch! " the tool flew, Ivan turned his head towards him just as the Shield smacked him in the face causing him to stagger just enough to allow Kim the chance he needed to run away. The shield began to fly back to him and he caught it as he kept running. He needed to keep Ivan distracted.

Ivan's body glowed before he grew slightly larger. "Didn't anyone teach you to pick on someone your own size?"

" I guess your talking about yourself. " Ivan raised his hands up bringing them down as Nino grew near, the smaller one slid across the floor, going between his legs to avoid the blow.

despite his size, Ivan was surprising nimble, able to turn around and attempt to back hand him with his closed fist. He couldn't see his partner anywhere, during the moment he was looking around Stoneheart managed to knock him down to the ground and back a few feet.

His shield was knocked from his hand just before him, just out of his reach. A shadow passed over him and he turned into his back to see the massive foot of stoneheart above him.

"Say goodnight turtle. "

What was it Wayzz had said? His power? Shell-ter? no, not that one...

his eyes widened and shot his arms up. "Fortify!" His suit glowed a pale green just before the massive foot connected with his hands. It felt like he was holding up paper, despite knowing that Ivan was currently heavy enough to crush cars.

five seconds had passed and Nino was quick to act, he placed one hand on the ground and pushed himself up, pushing stoneheart back with him. As The last few seconds ticked by Nino pushed Ivan back, Hard, Causing Stonehearts body to fall back flat on the grass, he picked up his shield ready to finish the fight.

As he turned back to face stoneheart he was hit with the full force of his foot and was promptly sent flying backwards, skipping across the grass until he came to a stop back on the concrete floor of the entrance.

As he sat up with a groan he caught sight of the phone that was now pointed directly at him, catching him at his worst.

"Woah, you're still going?" He didn't have time to digest that question as he saw a large object made of metal and string coming right at them.

He shot up, grabbed her by the shoulder and pushed her behind him, pulling his shield up and over his head he braced himself. "Shell-ter!"

A large green bubble of pure condensed magic formed around them, just a moment later the goal post hit it and bounced off and up into the chairs above, where it settled. He was going to lower his shield before a lump of crushed dirt hit against it.

Ivan was slowly walking forwards while scooping up dirt with his free hand, throwing it at them and forcing Nino to keep his shield up to protect the new girl.

"Where are you Partner!?" He shouted, seemingly startling his new classmate. " I could use a little help! "

Another lump of dirt hit the Shield and he heard an insistent beeping coming from his wrist, the Miraculous.

"Come on super red bug! the world is watching you!" Nino looked to were she was looking and could see the figure of his partner up on top of the stadium, she looked nervous.

He didn't blame her. "Come on Bug! You can do it, don't think! Just do!"

Much to his surprise he watched as she straightened up, then promptly leapt of the top. Her body curved, as if she was being aided in her fall. No, not fall, she was flying.

She spun her tool next to her, creating a large red ring that travelled with her, as she dived through stonehearts legs she flipped around to have her back to the dirt, her Yo-Yo flung towards Ivan's legs and wrapped around them multiple times.

Completing her land with a backflip she yanked on the wire of her tool, causing Stoneheart to collapse on the ground as her yo-yo came back to her.

Dropping his shield he ran forward to stand just in front of her, if it was his job to protect her. Then he was going to do exactly that. "Thanks, not sure how Long i would have lasted."

"Sorry I took so long." He nodded to her, trying to convey that there were no hard feelings.

" Alright, you got any ideas? cause I don't and I'm running out of time. " as if to prove his point his miraculous beeped again, the symbols dropped to three individual slots.

" My kwami told me I have to break the object where the whatchama-call-it... er, the akuma is hiding. "

"Not to be rude dude but he's made entirely out of stone."

She looked at him, noticing his closed fist. "there! His right hand is closed, he doesn't open it. He's like one of those Russian dolls, the object isn't on him, it's inside him. "

"Right now how are we going to get him to open it?"

Marinette hummed, eyes glancing back and forth. She gasped as she Remembered. "Lucky Charm!"

The other two watched as a swarm of tiny ladybugs swirled up and formed together to create a... wetsuit?

Marinette didn't pay attention to the stumped looks of the other two as she looked around. Stoneheart hand, the wetsuit, Alya, the tap and the hose. Puzzle pieces that all somehow went together to solve her problem.

"I've got it." She picked up the hose before stuffing it inside the wetsuit, tying it off so no water could escape. She pointed to Alya. " go to the Tap, turn it on at my mark. " flicking her yo-yo she wrapped it around her partners legs. "Trust me."

"What ? " Nino didn't have time to think before he was swung around in the air, next thing he knew he was flying in the air. Suddenly he found himself in the grasp of Ivan, he was sure that the suit was protecting him from being crushed.

"Catch me if you can!" Nino hardly had time to turn until he saw his partner get caught in his other hand, missing the purple object drop in the process of catching her. " Now! The tap! "

Nino watched as the new girl spun the tap, water rushing through the tube before the hand holding his partner was forced open by the wetsuit being filled with water, dropping her. Where she quickly ran towards and stomped on the object that he had dropped, breaking it.

A small innocuous butterfly flew out and away from them. Before Nino could blink Ivan's body glowed before falling apart, lumps of rock hitting the ground just as he managed to land on his feet. In the middle of the rubble was Ivan, looking confused and disoriented.

He looked up, seeing that he was, in fact, not outside mr. Damocles office. "huh? Where am i?"

"That's was awesome, " Nino was slowly walking towards his partner, seeing the object that she had broken fix itself in her hand. "You did it."

" we did it, partner. " She held up her free hand in a fist and Nino was quick to understand.

"pound it!" As their fists collided he was quick to note just how much bigger his hand was to hers. His miraculous beeped again, showing just two segments remained .

"You should get going, our identities must remain a secret. "

He nodded, turned back towards the stadium entrance and was ready to run when she put a hand on his shoulder. "Wait! I never got your name."

" ugh... Carapace, call me Carapace. I'll see you next time bug. "

She rolled her eyes humoruosly. "Not too soon I hope."

Nino was quick to make a run for the stadiums exit, clapping his shield to his back he flashed one final wave back to the girls before he passed into the hallways. His Miraculous beeped again, warning him that he was on his last legs, he wouldn't have time to get past everyone outside and get far away enough to not be seen.

He ducked into the locker room, eyes scanning around quickly to make sure he was alone. Not wanting to run the risk of being seen he stepped into one of the shower cubicles, just as he shut the door his transformation gave way, leaving Nino in place of the hero Carapace.

Wayzz was spat out of the bracelet, where he hovered a little wobbly. "Did you do it? Did you stop stoneheart? "

He nodded, pushing the door open to peak out, he couldn't see cameras, really there shouldn't have been any in here to begin with. "Yeah dude, Ivan's safe."

He pulled off his hat to run his fingers through his short hair, how was he going to explain what he was doing in here still? He felt Wayzz land on his head and he paused what he was doing. "Dude?"

" put your hat on me, I can't be seen. " Nino's eyebrows rose but he conceded when he realised that there really wasn't anywhere else for him to hide. "You gonna be alright?"

" I've been in worse places. " Giving a gentle nod, to not knock Wayzz off his head, he carefully settled the hat down giving the Kwami enough space to breath and move.

He stepped out, keeping an eye out for anyone, he stepped up to the door, ready to just get back home to process his day. When he opened the door he was met with the large figure of officer Raincomprix. His arm was still put in a cast and sling but he still had that air of professionalism and authority.

"What are you doing here son? Don't you know what's going on? "

"I, uh... No sir, I've been hiding here since the noises started. I was too afraid to come out. " He saw Rogers face relax, taking on a gentler look that conveyed pity and understanding.

"Well, it's over now. " he used his good arm to gesture Nino to follow him. "Lets get out of here. " Nino followed him, seeing the exit, fortunately he was guided away by another officer before any of the news crew could get to him. After having been checked for injuries and he gave his own ~~fake~~ report on where he had been, he was let go.

* * *

"So thanks to this amateur footage, the Parisians now know the identities of their heroes. Ladybug And Carapace. "

Nino was busy just by the island counter, placing multiple grapes, strawberries and Apple slices into a bowl. Wayzz had explained that after every transformation, and at meal times in general, Wayzz had to eat to recharge his energy.

otherwise He would not be able to become Carapace again but hey, if the cost of being a superhero was to feed a four inch tall being some fruit, then he was more then happy to do that. Granted Wayzz had his preferences and although he could eat anything that didn't mean Nino should disregard his diet choices just to be Carapace.

"They're so awesome!" Chris shouted as he jumped up into the couch, arms flailing like he was fighting something. Nino couldn't suppress a chuckle at watching his younger brother be excited over the hero's. One of which was him. " Do you think I'd be able to meet them Nino?"

"I don't know buddy," he walked around and sat on the sofa, using his free hand to pull Chris down so he sat down too. " They seem pretty busy, fighting supervillians and all. We wouldn't want to get in the way and get hurt would we? "

As much as Nino would have liked to let Chris meet his superhero self he was sure that would have been dangerous, he's seen enough superhero media to know that anyone connected to the hero's would be in danger. That was not something Nino wanted to cause to happen to his brother, so secrecy was a must.

"Hey, who knows. " he started, seeing Chris begin to get sad. "Maybe one day you'll meet them or better, maybe one day you'll be a hero and help them out."

" really? "

"You could dude, I think you'd be an awesome hero." He stood up, seeing that his work in cheering his brother up was done. " best to start getting your kicks practised if your going to be a hero one day. "

_"Just as Paris is about to celebrate the appearance of our two new superheroes, Ladybug and Carapace, a new wave of panic is sweeping across the capital as dozens of people are mysteriously transformed into stone monsters. It's simply unbelievable."_

" What! " Nino looked to the Tv seeing the short clips and images of people transforming into other stonehearts, except that they were all as still as statues.

He was quick to Move to his room, shutting the door behind him so Chris couldn't see in, just in case he saw Wayzz. "Dude, what's going on?" He Spoke in A whisper, so his voice wouldn't echo around the room. " People are turning into stoneheart statues out there. " 

Wayzz regarded Nino curiously, as if thinking, while he ate from the bowl Nino had put on the desk. "Did you capture the Akuma?"

The butterfly he had seen flutter away, the one that came from Stonehearts object.

" No but what did that have to do with this? We took Ivan's power away, he shouldn't be able to do this. "

"Akuma can multiply Nino, ladybug must capture and purify them to reverse the damage. " Wayzz floated up to his eye level, giving him a serious look. "If Ivan's emotions become negative again then he'll be transformed back and he'll gain control over the other stone beings."

" Then he'll have an army, " He sat down as a heavy weight hit his chest, so much for being a good hero. "What have I done?"

* * *

Inside the dark room of his lair, Hawkmoth extended his cane to capture the Akuma that he had called back to him. Stonehearts power, right there ready to be unleashed again once Ivan began to lose control of his emotions.

It wouldn't be long until stoneheart returned and the ladybug Miraculous became his.

For now, he had to question his Kwami on why only the earrings became active.


	2. Origins: Stoneheart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With their last failure on their minds the Miraculous duo question how they're going to fix everything.
> 
> Tension runs high and the people learn the face of the evil

* * *

_"The stone beings are scattered all over Paris, and for the time being, they are showing no signs of movement. Police have cordoned off the area."_

Nino sighed as he watched the morning news, seeing the pictures of the stoneheart copies being stuck like statues. Each image a reminder of his and ladybugs failure yesterday.

This wasn't what was supposed to have happened, everything was supposed to have been fixed, not made worse. And he couldn't blame anyone but himself, it was his job to help Ladybug, if she didn't remember something it was his job to remind her.

So when he too forgot. Then he too had failed, failed Ladybug, failed Paris.

" _We won't stop until we find a way to get these people back to their normal selves, but for now, we're not making much headway._ "

Neither was he, but hearing the mayor say he was doing everything he could was a little comforting, even if he knew it was pointless. Wayzz had said that only ladybug could fix the damage done by Akuma's and she needed the original Akuma to do so.

" _Paris is relying on our new guardian angels, ladybug and Carapace, to save us all. Our lives depend on them_."

So far there was nothing that could be done unless Ivan got re-akumatised into stoneheart, only then could he and Ladybug capture the Akuma.

It was a complicated procedure that shouldn't have to happen, if only they had been more observant the first time around.

" Nino? " the boy in question looked down to his younger brother, seeing him look up to him with eyes filled with wonder and childlike innocence, yet fear too.

His older brother instincts kicked in and he placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "What's up little dude?"

" Are... Do you think they can fix this? "

Nino blinked before he realised what he was on about. "You mean Ladybug And Carapace?" Seeing his brother nod Nino quickly enveloped him in a one armed side hug. " Oh don't worry about it dude, I'm sure, wherever they are, they're trying to fix this right now. "

"You think so?"

" I know so. " Nino spoke factually, messing up his brothers hair. "I have full faith that the hero's are going to fix this, so don't you worry."

For what choice did Nino really have? He was chosen to be Carapace, chosen to be a hero. He had to fix this, if not for his own sake then the well-being of all those who were being affected right now.

"Chris come on, let's go." Their mother called and he had to suppress a chuckle at seeing Chris deflate.

His brother had really hoped for his school to be shut down with everything that was going on. Not that his school was in danger, no, it was far away enough to be considered out of the way.

"Nino, make sure you leave on time, a lot of roads are closed cause of those statues."

" You got it mom. "

Nino waited until he heard the door shut until he let out a defeated sigh, turning off the TV before he could see anymore of his failures.

"Please don't beat yourself up master Nino, no-one is perfect."

He looked up to see Wayzz sitting on the table, having come out after his family had left, munching on some of the fruit pieces he had been slowly munching on.

"I know Wayzz but," Nino sighed as he shook his head. " You told me to help Ladybug and Ladybug said her Kwami told her to capture the Akuma, but me not remembering or reminding her that. I've failed Paris, failed you. "

"Nonsense, I could not be more proud to call you one of my hatchlings." Wayzz floated up, then landed on his knee, a grape held in his nubby hands. " besides, one cannot improve if they do not fail. "

"One does not learn through success but from failure. Already you have learnt a valuable lesson, Capture the Akuma, your next failure will teach you something as well. Master ."

" how very inspiring Wayzz. " Nino flinched at the bluntness in his tone before he cast an apologetic look to the Kwami. "Sorry."

He stood up and moved to his room, leaving Wayzz to float around as he pleased. As much as Wayzz was speaking the truth he didn't want to think about his next failure, or even the idea of failing from now on. Sure he had to learn but he shouldn't need to fail to do so.

As he scooped up his bag his eyes caught onto the inside, seeing the crumbled remains of his headphones, the events of yesterday had made him completely forget about getting replacements, not that he could do so quickly anyway.

Dumping his bag out into his desk he rearranged everything so he only had the essentials, trying to leave a large space for Wayzz to sit in comfortably. However, he didn't like the idea of him staying in there all the time, just in case he got separated from his bag, he needed Wayzz closer to him and he didn't want to leave him in his hat all the time.

People would notice it was crooked. Moving to his closet he opened it up and began to shift through everything, bypassing the T-shirts ~~all of them the exact same~~ until he came to the few jackets he owned.

There was a long sleeve white fleece jacket, a black bomber jacket, a brown hoodless jacket and...

Nino pulled out the green short sleeve zip up hoodie, seeing dark green octagons on the shoulders and elbows, the zip had the same dark green bordering it, a large pocket was on each side of the zip and the baggy hoody was hanging off the neck.

it was a gift from Marinette on his fourteenth birthday. It was a few sizes too big, or it had been, he had grown a little since he got it. Aside from a few occasions he hardly wore it. He opened the jacket by undoing the zip and peered inside, yep, right there were two large pockets on each side.

it was perfect.

Slipping it on he left the zip undone, it was beginning to reach warmer weather but there was enough of a chill in the air to justify wearing it. He adjusted the hood so it was open behind his neck before he picked his bag up and strung it over his shoulder, letting the bag rest on his hip.

Stepping out of his room he caught Wayzz finishing off the last of the fruit, for such a little guy he certainly could eat.

"You ready to go buddy?" Nino picked up his lunch from the counter along with a few packets of mixed fruit.

"Yes Master." Nino frowned as he zipped up his bag.

" Dude, I know you mean well. But please don't call me that, it makes me feel old. "

Wayzz chuckled as he floated up to him. "Of course, apologies, it is a habit I find hard to break."

" You're good little dude. " He opened up his jacket, revealing the pockets and Wayzz was quick to settle into one of them, now he wouldn't have to worry so much about losing him. Making sure his hat was on properly he left his house.

Once outside he began to make his way to school, he let his shoulders relax and kept his eyes open on where he was going. He wasn't exactly expecting Stoneheart to drop down in front of him but after yesterday he couldn't exactly ignore the possibility.

He eventually found himself stepping around to the street that had his school and he picked up his pace, at best he would get through today fine but, given that Ivan was their classmate, everyone would be talking about what happened yesterday... Right in front of Ivan too.

Hell, Ivan would be the center of attention today whether he liked it or not and who knew what he was feeling. He picked up his pace and before he knew it he was already through the doors. Eyes scanning left and right, seeing that school was just beginning to fill out properly.

His eyes landed on the hulking frame of Ivan, who was slouched on the bench, head down and eyes cast to the ground. Fortunately he was alone, unfortunately he didn't look to be in a good mode.

Call him selfish but he didn't want Ivan to be akumatised again, not because he didn't want everything to be fixed but because he didn't want Ivan to go through that again. He already looked defeated enough as it was and it hadn't even been a day yet. He stepped closer until he was before him, realising that Ivan wasn't paying attention he sat next to him and waited.

it was only when he looked towards Nino that Nino looked back. "You alright dude? You look a little... Grim?"

Ivan sighed, hand dragging along his face. "I don't know, it's weird."

"About yesterday?" He saw him nod and he couldn't blame Ivan for not wanting to talk about it. It was unclear what he was feeling or even how he was responding to everything. "Hey, don't worry about it too much, I know it must be... Confusing but I don't think you're at fault for this."

"You don't? " Ivan sounded surprised and Nino suspected it was because he wasn't expecting anyone to say what he said. Or at least defend him in some way.

"Of course not, if you were going to blow your top it would be because of Chloé and her... Well Chloé being Chloé I suppose, not to mention, if everything that happened yesterday came from you... We would have seen it a lot sooner."

Ivan huffed, and Nino was left with the impression that he had said the wrong thing. Still he made the decision to stay where he was, just so Ivan knew he at least had Nino as silent support.

"Yo! Ivan." Nino winced as Alix skated up to them, he silently hoped that she wouldn't start anything. The pink haired girl was normally pretty chill but had her aggressive streak when pushed. He hoped for Ivan's sake she was in a chill mood today.

"Alix. Don't." Alix at least had the dignity to look affronted and held her hands up defensively.

"Hey, I'm just checking in." Well that wasn't too bad at least. "Need to know if he's gonna go Rocky Road Reject on us."

" Alix! " It was bad enough to hear the same insult that he had said, in the heat of the moment, but to hear it be used against Ivan was worse. "Not cool Dude. That was uncalled for."

" What? Just making sure we're safe. " Nino clenched his jaw, this was the opposite that he wanted to happen, this would stress Ivan out and he would get re-akumatised.

He could tell it was going to be made worse by the approaching group of Kim, Juleka, Rose and Max. Nino sent his own silent pleas to them to not cause anything but it seemed the prospect of talking to Ivan was too tempting.

Hell, even Chloé had moved closer, leaning herself against the beam with Sabrina next to her, holding her bag for her.

Ivan seemed to pick up on the negativity too, as he huffed while looking away. "Guys, Don't."

" What happened yesterday man? " Nino was seriously going to smack Kim upside the head, the jocks indignation be damned.

"Kim." It seemed Nino's words were falling on deaf ears today as no-one responded to him.

" I don't know. " Ivan looked so beaten down right now, with the way his shoulders were hunched and he was trying to make his large frame look small.

"You have to admit it is strange, people don't just become Rock monsters in a day." For once, Nino actually glared at Max and it seemed he took notice of him, finally. Whatever words were on his tongue died as he nervously cleaned his glasses. "So clearly we're missing a lot of important information, I just wanted to ask you about it."

" There's nothing to tell, I don't even remember anything. " that seemed to get everyone's attention as their faces relaxed, although Nino quickly noted that Chloé didn't seem to do the same. Granted she didn't look like anything other then relaxed already.

"Wait," Alix seemed to pause, as if contemplating what she should say. "So you really don't remember anything? At all?"

"You were totally going ballistic." Nino sent an annoyed look to Juleka , seriously her too? She seemed to take his pointed look in stride, not even flinching.

Ivan was halfway through shaking his head when Kim stepped up closer, not aggressively but certainly far from calm. "You were seriously out to crush me dude!"

Missing the way Ivan looked towards Mylene, who was standing a little away from the group, Nino stood until he was between Kim and Ivan. "Maybe he wouldn't have been like that if you didn't antagonize him yesterday, what did you even do?"

"Its nothing Nino." The Moroccan boy looked back to the class giant, finding to odd that he was telling him to not worry. "I'm sorry Kim... I wasn't myself..."

The disbelieving, antagonizing scoff that came from behind them was enough to set Nino's gutt off, he was quick to turn to Chloé, who he had been graciously ignoring to not start anything with her himself.

"Once a monster, always a monster." Nino hardly had time to retort before Iavn had gotten up with a huff, shoulder checking him as he stalked past and away from everyone else. "Don't let the door hit you on the way out!" She called after him, hardly looking up from her manicured nails.

"Really Chloé?" The blonde didn't even look up at him but Sabrina certainly sent a smug look his way.

" plu-ease, I'm not wrong. "

"Oh yes you are!" Nino blinked as Alya stepped up to Chloé, not at all bothered about getting close to the mayor's daughter. "How could you say that to Ivan? You're the real monster."

"Ugh, so I'm the one who broke Sabrina's dad's arm am i?" As much as Chloé was a brat she often had good points when it came to her arguments but Nino wasn't going to hold it against Ivan. Given that he was under mind control. "Just because your footage of those lame superheroes was shown on Tv, doesn't mean you have to get so high and mighty."

Chloé blew the wad of gum in her mouth to form a bubble between the two girls faces, who had gotten quite close to each other, until it popped in alya's face. "Why you Little..."

"Look out, she's angry! She's going to split her underwear and turn into a huge muscly monster." Chloé snickered as Alya walked away in her own huff, would she be akumatised as well? Could there be two at once? Nino didn't know and he certainly didn't think to ask Wayzz before.

" Hey Chloé. " Whatever was going to happen came to halt as Chloé seemed to light up in delight , actual delight, as she turned to the source of the voice. Nino could hardly see the head of Blonde hair before Chloé had jumped onto them.

That was enough for Nino to know that whoever they were, they had enough familiarity with Chloé to actually choose to be around her. And that was bad enough in Nino's eyes.

"Hey is that Adrien?"

" Adrien Agreste? "

"Is that that model?"

Nino ignored the whispers as he walked away and towards his class room, ignoring the way how the new boy gently pushed Chloe away by her shoulders , as if it was normal to have the blonde girl hanging off of him.

once he got in the room he placed his bag down and sat in his seat, Marinette wasn't here yet, neither was Alya or many other students. Only nathaniel was present, drawing in his book.

It was times like these that he wished he had his headphones, just so he could jam out to a little music before class, Bustier was very lax on that as long as he didn't do it when class started. But he had some time to waste so he brought out his phone and powered it up. He sat there, just goofing off as he waited for the class to begin.

one by one the other classmates entered, taking their seats and quietly talking. Nino shot a quick look down to his jacket, he couldn't see Wayzz but he could just feel his weight in his pocket. It felt weird just having a tiny being right there, a massive secret that could be blown out of the water if someone were to look in his pocket.

"Wow." Chloé's voice flowed through the doorway, for once Nino could swear it sounded like she was actually happy. It sounded really strange after all the false happiness she had given off over the years. The way how she half ran into the room gave off her excitement. "This is your seat, Adrikins. " The blonde girl gestured to the seat next to Nino and, for once, she didn't seem bothered that he was there. "I saved it for you. Right in front of me."

_Adrikins,_ or Adrien if Nino had heard correctly, walked in. Back straight, head high and not unlike Chloé. Passing by Chloé he placed a hand on her shoulder. "Thanks Chloé."

" Just remember, as long as we get past roll call you're in the clear. " He gave her a thumbs up as he sat in the seat next to Nino, it seemed as if he had only just seen him.

"Uh… Hey!" The blonde boy held out his hand in greeting, "Adrien."

Model boy.

friend of Chloé.

He looked well off by his clothes.

Not a good combo in Nino's eyes. "So, you're a friend of Chloé's huh?" He leaned on his raised hand, balling his fist just below his jaw as his elbow rested on the table. Eyes narrowed slightly in suspicion, even as Wayzz tapped against his chest calmly.

For a fleeting moment Adrien's faced dropped, the smile he had been giving him faltered and his hand dropped to the table. Perhaps things would be awkward between them but Nino knew he had to put his foot down somewhere, if not between Chloé and Marinette then between himself and Adrien.

His sight didn't last on him for long as Nino's eyes darted to Chloé, seeing her pass off her ~~chewed~~ gum to Sabrina.

"Really Chloé? Can't go a day can you?"

Chloé turned and gave him the stink eye as Sabrina took the gum. " This is none of your business Lahiffe, why don't you drown yourself in your music like a good boy. " Nino frowned as Chloé turned to admire Sabrina's work in sticking the gum to the seat, giving it a squish to spread it as far as she could.

Adrien also seemed to notice after turning back towards them, what surprised Nino was the look of slight disgust that crossed Adrien's face upon seeing their 'work'.

"Hey," he was quick to stand up from his seat and Nino had to blink as his own assumptions of the boy were broken. " what's that all about? "

" The brats that sat here yesterday need a little attitude adjustment." Chloé seemed satisfied with what Sabrina had done and gestured her to get up. "I'm just commanding a bit of respect, that's all."

Adrien leaned down in the space that Sabrina had just vacated and hesitantly tried to pick up the Gum. "Is that really necessary?" The blonde boy grimaced as the gum stuck to the end of his fingers but he didn't stop trying to remove it.

" You've got a lot to learn about school culture adrikins, watch the master." Chloé looked rather proud with what she had caused and Nino would admit he wasn't expecting Adrien to try to remove the gum or even question Chloé for that matter.

Perhaps he had been wrong about him or at least... There was more to him then he could see anyway. Perhaps he had been a little hasty with the way he had acted, been rude for presuming. Maybe it would be best to restart with him?

Especially if he did manage to remove the gum, as he was still trying to do, that seemed to garner a little respect from Alix too. As she had front row seats to his attempts.

The sound of two gasps caught Nino's attention and he swung his head back around to the door, seeing both Alya and Marinette there.

"Hey!" Half the class jumped at Marinette's shout and Nino could've sworn he heard Nath mutter something. "What do you think you're doing?"

If it wasn't for the sour look on her face Nino would have considered Mari's stomping to be quite cute.

Adrien stumbled slightly, fingers slipping on the gum and making it spread slightly more. "uhh... I..."

As Mari's face grew into a scowl as both Chloé and Sabrina burst out laughing, as if putting one of their friends under the ire of a, presumably, angry person was a funny thing.

if this was how she treated friends then he really didn't want to know what she did to people she loathed.

"Okay." She had turned to the two girls, directing her scowl to them. "I get it." She rounded back on Adrien, Nino could see she was making him nervous. "Good job, you three. Very funny."

She knelt down as she tried to remove the gum herself, grimacing as her fingers came away with the gum attached.

"No No. I was trying to take it off, really." She stood, turned on him and leaned into his space, naturally he leaned back, not wanting to have the clearly angry girl up in his face.

" Oh really? I find that hard to believe. " As Chloé and Sabrina laughed even harder she backed off, opened her backpack and pulled out a napkin that she laid on the gum, so as not to sit on it herself. "You're friends with Chloé right?"

"Why do people keep saying that?" _Like it was a bad thing_ went unspoken. Mari huffed at him before taking her seat, being mindful to not actually sit on the napkin. Alya taking her seat next to her a moment afterwards.

Defeated, Adrien slumped down in his chair next to Nino, arms crossed in front of him and head down slightly.

"Now do you see what I mean about respect?" Chloé's hands came up to her chin, where her fingers intertwined together.

Adrien let out a sigh as his head dropped slightly further, his first day at school wasn't going as well as he thought it would.

Nino looked on, seeing the defeated and disappointed look on his face and he truly felt bad for him. Very few had ever earned Marinette's ire, Chloé being the prime example, and he felt bad that Adrien had gotten on her bad side after his first meeting with her.

Not a feat easily broken.

"I know I've seen him somewhere before." He could hear Mari speaking quietly, her eyes were narrowed at Adrien and for a moment Nino and Marinette locked eyes. Her eyes softened, as if recognising that he was in a bad place, being surrounded by the trio.

Her attention was stolen when Alya bumped her arm and she turned to her seat-mate where her attention was stolen by her friends phone. She quickly took it before scrolling through the images present.

"Of course, he's the son of my fave fashion designer Gabriel Agreste. "

"Daddy's boy, Teen supermodel AND Chloé's friend. " Alya counted off each point with a raised finger, her head shaking after she was done. "Ha! Forget it."

Nino winced as Adrien shrunk in on himself quietly, it seemed having someone pointing out a few things that made him _unfriendable_ really took a hit on him. He leaned forwards, catching his attention.

"Why didn't you tell them it was Chloé's idea?"

"I've known Chloé since I was a little kid. I know she's not perfect, but I can't throw her under the bus. She's like my only friend."

Only friend? As in _one and only_ friend? He couldn't imagine going his whole life with just one person as a friend, much less someone like Chloé.

"I'm Nino," He outstretched his hand towards him, copying his greeting from earlier. "and it's time for you to make some _new_ friends, dude."

He saw Adrien's smile curve up slightly before their hands clasped together in a firm shake. Solidifying a new friendship, much to Chloé's Charing.

"I suppose I should apologise about earlier, I may have jumped the gun and judged you a little too early. " Nino rubbed the back of his neck as he looked to the door, seeing Miss Bustier entering the room.

"It's cool, I guess I've still got a lot to learn about public school. "

Nino would have questioned him further if not to Bustier clearing her throat to get everyone's attention. "Alright class, time to quite down now."

Several students grumbled as they ceased their conversation, several put away things that would be deemed 'distractions'. Mylene gave an apologetic look as she came in and quietly took her seat.

"Agreste, Adrien? " She inquired as she read off the register, eyes looking up expectantly at the boy.

Nino leaned over, hand half covering his mouth as he whispered. "You say 'present'."

"Uh, Present!" He had raised right out of his seat, standing up tall as he raised his hand all the way up. The entire class burst out laughing , even Chloé who simply covered her mouth with her hand to placate herself.

Nino only chuckled slightly as he sat back down and Miss Bustier gave him a fond, slightly amused smile.

"Bourgeois, Chloé?"

" Present. " She flicked her hair as she said this. However, Nino didn't pay attention to her as the sound of heavy thumps began to draw closer.

"Bruel, Ivan?" Quicker then Nino could blink the large form of stoneheart ran up to the door, reared back his fist and then punched the door right off its hinges where it flew back towards the opposite wall.

" **PRESENT!** "

Miss. Bustier had dropped her register at the sudden noise. Nino scrambled to stand, grabbing Adrien by the biceps and dragging him across the bench towards him and away from the centre isle.

" **MYLĒNE?** " As stoneheart stomped closer to the middle of the room everyone else scrambled away, Alya and Marinette rushed out of their seats and began to back up, screaming, to the far end of the classroom with Kim, Max, rose, Juleka and Alix.

Sabrina had disappeared, Nathaniel was halfway between trying to run and hide and Chloé was sunk down below her desk.

Nino watched from the doorway as Stoneheart batted away Marinette's desk before reaching out and picking up Mylēne after bumping the table out of the way.

She squirmed in his grasp, trying to escape. "Let go of me Ivan."

" **I'm not Ivan anymore. I'm stoneheart.** " Nino watched from the doorway as everyone else also watched on in horror, he didn't know what had set Ivan off again but he hoped he wouldn't be as destructive as yesterday.

"Why are you doing this?" He pitied Mylēne, stuck in the grasp of someone who wasn't themselves, even as Wayzz whacked himself against his chest to urge him to run and transform.

" **So you and I can be together, Forever."** Such a statement would normally be cute if not for the fact that Ivan was a towering mound of rock and intimidation. Nino slowly began to back out of the room, eyes caught on stoneheart as he did so.

"Daddy." Chloé's voice echoed around the room as she spoke into her phone, drawing Ivan's attention to her, his raised the girl in his hand above his head to see below him, Mylene let out a squeak at the movement . "The monsters back."

" **You!** " He grabbed the desk Chloé was hiding under, flinging it to the front of the class, Miss Bustier had to duck down to avoid being hit by it.

"Chloé!"

As Stoneheart reached out to grab her, Adrien, who had been standing close to where Chloé's desk had been, ran forward to her. As he grabbed her around the shoulders both blondes were caught up in Stonehearts fist.

Adrien's arms were pinned around Chloé as her legs kicked the open air below her, half catching Adrien in the shins. Chloé gave out frightened yells as Adrien kept grunting at the pressure surrounding the two of them, along with Chloé kicking him in the shins.

"Ivan Stop!" Nino's hand clenched onto the doorframe, half holding himself back and half keeping him from running away. " This isn't you! "

" **You're right.** " For a moment Nino thought that he had gotten through to him, made him come to his senses, only for that to come crashing down. " **This is stoneheart, Not Ivan!** "

Stoneheart turned towards the wall, raised his foot, then kicked it down. Sending bricks, dust and rubble into the road below, he jumped down, making his three passengers scream out as they came closer to the ground.

finally Nino's legs let him move and he quickly turned away from the door and out the classroom, feet hitting the floor in his haste, before he knew it he had found himself in the empty locker room. As he leaned against the row of lockers Wayzz flew out of his pocket.

"Sorry for not leaving faster dude. I just..."

" Thought you could resolve it without violence, " Nino nodded at the little beings words, not bothering to speak his own. "It's ok to detest violence but sometimes to defend people it is necessary. We should go, ladybug will be needing us. "

"You're right. "

He stepped away from the lockers and backed up into the bathroom, although there were no cameras in the locker room he didn't want to run the risk of someone seeing him transform. He took one look at himself in the mirror, seeing his slightly ragged state before breathing in a long breath before letting it back out.

"Alright. Wayzz, Shell on. " He pinched the brim of his hat, running his fingers across the edge as he fastened it to his head, Wayzz morphed into a ball of pure energy as he was pulled into the miraculous, turning it from its pale green to it's darker, active, variant.

He shot out his right hand as the magic began to flow over his body, covering him in his suit. His other hand laid flat on the floor as he transitioned into a backspin as the rest of his body was covered from the neck down.

His shield popped into existence on his back and he halted his spin by placing his hands on the floor, pushing himself up he reached behind him to grasp at the hood as it started to form, bringing it up and over his head as his glasses transformed into goggles.

He ended his transformation off by having his arms crossed over his chest with his back straight and shoulders taunt.

His eyes caught onto the little shell shaped tool on his hip and he brought it up to his eyes level, holding it like one would hold a phone. "Really gotta figure this thing out." Clipping it back to his waste he made a move for the door. " really hope ladybug isn't far away, gonna need her. "

* * *

Outside, Stoneheart stomped his way down the street, each step caused cars and loose object to jolt and bounce in place.

In one hand Mylēne squirmed in Stonehearts grip and in the other the two blondes were squashed together tightly.

"You have no idea who you're dealing with." Chloé's neck was crained as she tried to look behind her at Stoneheart, failing due to Adrien blocking her as he was squished to her back. "My daddy, the mayor, will bring in the police, the army, the entire cavalry!"

Perhaps she was putting up a front, trying to seem like she was in control of the situation and not at the mercy of her captor but she would never give anyone the satisfaction of thinking otherwise.

"Don't forget the superheroes!" A dull thunk echoed as Carapace's shield rebounded off the back of Stonehearts head, a second later the hero responsible landed on his shoulder before back-flipping off of him to land before the four of them.

in response to the hit, the cracks between his body began to glow and stoneheart grew in size, become even larger then he had been the first time Carapace had fought him.

"Oop's, my bad."

"Super incompetent, more like." Chloé casually tapped her fingers against Stoneheart enlarged hand in an annoyed fashion, still trying to come off like she had control of the situation. At least she and Adrien weren't as squashed together anymore.

"Really chloé? Is now the time? "

"Oh, hush adrikins. "

Stoneheart huffed, his shoulders jolting as he did so. " **You wanted the cavalry? Well, here it is!** " All around them large pounding noises echoed around them and multiple of the stoneheart copies began to run towards them, circling him. He was wondering when they would show up. " **Seize him!** " 

Carapace jumped to the side as one of the copies tried to slam their hand down on him, then he quickly rolled between the legs of another when they stepped forwards.

"Behind you!" glancing back he saw the wound up fist of one of the copies, quickly thinking he backflipped, hands gliding up the closed fist until he grasped onto the Rocky bumps that made their knuckles, landing on its wrist as it slammed into the ground were he had been just a second prior.

Seemingly bored of watching his minions toy with the hero, Stoneheart turned and walked away. "Ivan, where are we going?" His Rocky stoic features seemed to lighten up slightly before he looked off in the distance.

" **To deliver a message, then we'll be brought together forever by a pretty black butterfly.** "

"Ugh, all this lovey dovey stuff is making me sick."

" you sure that's not just motion sickness chloé? "

Stoneheart looked down to the two blondes in his hand, glaring at them, he may not have intended to grab the boy but anyone who choose to defend someone like Chloé was not a good person in his mind. " **Don't worry you monsters, I'll deal with you two as well.** "

Chloé cringed as she tried to sink further into Stonehearts hand while Adrien went stiff as a board.

* * *

Just further down the street Carapace was doing his best to catch up to the original Stoneheart whilst trying to simultaneously dodge each of the copies as they tried to capture him.

further behind them Alya was running up the road, phone out recording trying to capture as much of the fight as she could. She saw as one of the copies hurled a car at the turtle hero, forcing him to roll out of its path, her legs twitched with the desire to get closer but stayed back for the sake of getting the perfect shot. Even as she crouched behind a nearby bin.

"If you can hear me bug! I could use a little help!"

Alya eyebrows furrowed as she looked around to the rooftops, trying to spot the red clad hero. There was no sight of her, she didn't think the two heroes would be far away from one another for long yet she couldn't see a single drop of the colour red.

"What is she waiting for?" Her arms dropped slightly as she tried to look around more, as if the hero would have been flying around outside of her field of vision.

Due to this she did not see when one of the copies threw another car at Carapace, while he dodged with precision the car continued its journey towards the blogger.

When it's shadow cast over her she looked back and her eyes widened at the sight of the several tonne vehicle flying right at her. It's front bumper was half scraping against the floor as its rear was swinging down towards her. She didn't hear other noises around her as her eyes locked into the car, eyes seeing nothing but the undercarriage.

Until a round green shield wedged itself between the wall behind her and the automotive in front of her. Even then the shield couldn't protect her for long as the car slipped to the side, dropping in front of her and trapping her in place when it leaned on the wall again.

The car was putting just enough pressure on her that she couldn't move very much and what few movements she could make were uncomfortable at best.

The sound of a zip wire caught her attention as a black wire wrapped its way around the car, slowly the car pulled back off her allowing her to crawl her way out of the space she had been trapped in. She hardly had time to pull up her phone before ladybug had walked up to her, here eyes only half on the blogger.

"You can't stay here," She flicked her wrist, sending her yo-yo out as it hit Carapace's discarded shield, forcing it to bounce off the ground where she caught it in her free hand. "It's too dangerous."

The black panels on her back lifted as her four wings began to flutter, she took several running steps forward before launching her yo-yo at a streetlamp where it wrapped around and pulled her forwards and off the ground.

Using her yo-yo for leverage she swung her way around the corner , flying around the furthest back stoneheart copy she twirled to keep her partners shield in her grasp. She landed on the shoulder of the second copy before jumping up and out of its reach, she spotted Carapace stuck in the grasp of the fourth copy, one arm held in its grip but the other was moving freely, trying to pry himself free.

"Carapace! Catch! " Twirling her whole body around she threw the shield with all her strength, it was heavier then it looked. "Wedge it!"

He caught it with his free hand seamlessly before slamming it down into the gap in his captors hand.

Nothing happened.

He tried again with the same result. " Bug! It's not working! "

"Working on it!"

Carapace tried to jam the shield in the gap between the copies thumb and fingers, trying to pry it open. He was meet with the same results as the other attempts. Ladybug was fluttering about around him, just out of his captors reach whilst also deflecting the projectiles that were thrown at her.

What he needed was something else that would fit in the gap, something smaller. He felt a tingling in the back of his head, like he was remembering something. His trapped hand brushed against something, a bump in his suit... His other tool, of course! Maybe that would do something.

He grunted as he twisted his hand to grip it, feeling the few ridges in it that made the top half feel like it was bigger then the lower half. Slowly he twisted his arm and tried to get his hand between himself and the stone copies fist. He hardly had his hand halfway up his chest until he couldn't move it no more.

"I'm trying something! Get ready to act!" Ladybug nodded before flying around to the front of the line using her Yo-Yo to trip the front most one to slow them all down. He squeezed the tool and it hissed out its response in the form of four short cables coming out of it, one from each of the four 'holes' in the tools design that made it look like a real turtle.

The wires shot out from his captors hand and quickly curved inwards, all of them intending to meet up with one anohther, they all connected together behind the stone copies head and suddenly his tool was retracting the wires. Pulling his captors hand closer to their own head.

with a heavy thunk the two body parts collided and in their surprise they had opened their fist enough for Carapace to slip out, taking his tool with him as the wires snapped back into place.

the staggering stone minion collided with the one behind it and Carapace couldn't stop the triumphant smile that spread across his face. He felt a wire wrap around his chest before he was yanked up off the floor until he was dropped onto a nearby roof, ladybug landed next to him, her wings fluttering as if ready to take off again.

"Sorry I was late, but we need to go."

"It's cool dudette, you're here now, let's start with these guys." Carapace Clipped both his shield and tool to his back and hip before rolling his shoulder, legs bending as he readied himself to jump back down.

" No. " her yo-yo wrapped around his chest again and before he knew it she was already pulling him along with her as she flew over roof tops. Each time she hit her peak height she would tug on her wire, sending him higher then he could go himself.

He could manage the landing just fine and was able to jump from outcrop to outcrop but he couldn't make the larger gaps between buildings.

"If we wanna save them all then we need to go to the source. " Ladybug had launched them over a large gap in the building, sending them over the trocadéro before they landed close to the centre.

He landed in a roll as Ladybug fluttered down next to him, the two of them had a perfect view of the original stoneheart, of Ivan, as he stood on top of the higher floor of the Eiffel tower, yelling as the helicopters got too close to him.

"That one." From where they stood they could see all the other Stonehearts getting closer to the bottom of the Eiffel tower, putting pressure onto the police officers who were trying to stop them.

Just at the beginning of the Bridge a small police blockage was set up, more to stop civilians from passing then stopping the monsters from roaming as they pleased.

Mayor Bourgeois was just in front of them, a megaphone in hand.

"I demand you return those kids to us immediately!" Even from where they were, due to his size, they could see Stonehearts face Scrunch up in disgust.

"Daddy! " They did pitty Chloé, even they knew she didn't deserve to be stuck where she was.

" **You Know what! ?** " They saw him begin to pull back his arm, fear coursed through them as they realised what he was about to do. And it wasn't just Chloé who was there either, Adrien was caught up in the Same hand too.

"Bug, throw me." She looked to him, then down to her yo-yo before flickering it at him, wrapping it around his chest once more.

" **You're welcome to them!** " Stoneheart sent his arm fowards, opening his fist to release the two blondes who went soaring through the air.

around them Screams echoed as all the bystanders yelled in horror. Chloé heard none of it over the wind and her own quick plea to be saved in turn for being nicer.

Before she hit the ground she felt two arms collide around her until she was sliding on the air, when she opened her eyes she saw herself looking up to the heroine from her arms. Ladybug had caught her. "I didn't promise."

" What? "

Chloé shot up as she looked around her, eyes landing on Adrien as he was curled up in the arms of Carapace, who looked like he had done a knee slide after catching him. Later she would watch the video footage and see that he had come out of nowhere, ladybug fast on his heels, and catching her long time friend midair.

For now though she was content to run to him and embrace him in a hug as he stood up and away from Carapace.

He two Hero's quickly got back together, standing side by side as they looked up at Stoneheart.

" Alright, we're clear to attack! " Officer Raincomprix ordered from the top of the police van, one arm still in a sling, the officers around them readied their weapons and took aim at Stoneheart.

Wait what! Mylēne was still up there.

"No Stop! You'll only make it worse." Roger seemed to scowl at them, his good arm pointing at them in a way a parent would scold a child.

"I have a new plan, unlike you!" He waved his arms in a dismissive manner, trying to dismiss them. "Move aside and let the pros do their thing. You've already failed once!"

Beside him ladybug gasped quietly, her body going still as her wings froze. Her shoulders slumped as she turned to him. "He's right you know." Nino flinched at the look that had crossed her face, defeat mixed with sadness. "If I had captured Stoneheart's akuma the first time around, none of this would have happened! I knew I wasn't the right one for this job…" Her hands had come up to her face, as if she were trying to hide herself away.

He breathed in a sharp breath as his shoulders tensed up, he didn't stop to think about how their failure could have affected her. " No. " He patted her shoulder reassuringly before he turned around to Roger, a glare leveled his way. "You're wrong! If it wasn't for us Stoneheart wouldn't have stopped rampaging yesterday!"

Those around them gasped at him as he spoke to Roger in a clearly disrespectful mannner, voice rising with each sentence.

" If it weren't for us you would have a lot more damage on your hands, and these two-" He pointed to both Adrien and Chloé. "Wouldn't be here right now! And that would have been on you!"

" yeah we failed but you know what!? We learned, we now know what to do! So don't tell us to back down when you're the one lining up to shoot him, " his arms gestured to stoneheart, who was starting to wobble slightly, "While he is STILL holding onto a hostage!"

Silence feel over those present and Roger actually looked ashamed to realise he had almost ordered people to fire on a kid, well two actually.

Standing on her own Ladybug felt her heart quicken, her eyes roamed over Carapace, as if seeing him for the first time. She couldn't remember a time when someone defended her like that, it was... heartwarming.

The sound of a deep intense cough caught everyone's attention, all of them turning to stoneheart as he bellowed out the coughs, small black clouds escaped his mouth before he collapsed backwards on the towers platform with a groan.

A larger Clowd rushed out of his mouth and all of them converged together, spinning and spiralling until they formed a shape, no, a face within the floating form of... many, many Akuma's.

" **People of paris!** " the face moved as it spoke, as if manipulated to copy the speaker, the deep voice echoing around the entire area and it sent chills down people spins. " **I am Hawkmoth!** "

"Hawkmoth? " The two heroes looked to each other, now they had a name to the one who had caused the Akuma in the first place.

" **Ladybug, Carapace. Hand over the ladybug earrings and cat ring now! You've done enough damage to these innocent people.** "

What? _They_ had caused enough damage, that didn't even make sense, not to mention neither of them had the Cat ring, he had the turtle bracelet and she had the earrings but not a ring.

A slow methodical clap came from next to him, his eyes darted to Ladybug as she slowly walked forwards, hands clapping against one another as she went.

"Nice try, Hawk Moth, but we know who the bad guy is." She spread her arms wide, confidence radiating off her in waves. "Let's not reverse the roles here. Without you, none of these innocent victims would be transformed into villains."

" And trufully, if you weren't the bad guy, you would have asked for the ladybug and the turtle not the cat, that goes to show you aren't trying to help people, you're after those miraculous specifically for yourself. "

"Hawk Moth, no matter how long it takes, we _will_ find you, and YOU will hand us _YOUR_ miraculous!"

She pulled her yo-yo from its belt, her wings began to flail wildly as she began to run, flicking her yo-yo forwards she grabbed onto the fence before pulling herself towards the railing, she pulled herself to it and jumped up off of it, high into the air where her wings began fluttering hard to keep her afloat.

Her yo-yo split open, revealing the pure white magic inside that thrummed with energy. She flung her tool towards the massive Cluster of the akuma, capturing a large swath of them in a single go, leaving a open chunk left in Hawkmoths face for a moment before more of them replaced them.

Hawkmoths image began to help out in frustration, the face changing to match its master true feelings.

She didn't let up though, she swung again, and again, and again until the Akuma could not continue to sustain the form any longer, splitting off individually in a burst of energy where her yo-yo caught all of them as they tried to espace. The last one tried to fly off but she flew towards it and caught it as she landed on the floor of the tower.

Down below, everyone else stood in shock, disbelief and amazement written across their faces as they looked up to her.

"People of paris, Let me make this promise to you. No matter who wants to harm you, Ladybug and Carapace will do everything in our power to keep you safe! " Her hand flicked open her yo-yo and she raised it above her head, within a second a giant swarm of butterflies erupted from it, where they scattered around Paris in a manner similar to an explostion.

Down before the people cheered, Overjoyed to see that not only did the hero's have their back but that they would truly defend them. The officers clapped each other on the shoulders while Chloé jumped into her father's back out of excitement.

" I think I'm in love. " came from the blonde boys mouth. enhanced with the beauty of Ladybug. His love for the new icon would be... Blinding.

Carapace crossed his arms, a smirk growing on his face, seeing her change dramatically from upset to pure confident was good, especially when it was him who caused that... or at least he hoped so.

His face dropped though, this wasn't over yet. His eyes hardened as they looked to the spot behind his partner, Stoneheart was still there. Pulling his tool from his hip he began to run towards the tower. As he drew closer to the bottom of the leg he jumped, managing to reach a height he had not reached previously, he landed on the beams of the tower, then jumped up again to the next beam within his reach.

He wasn't able to jump anywhere close to as high as Ladybug could, but it was enough that, with a few leaps, he could make it to the floor where she stood in a few short moments. 

a loud road echoed from the floor were she was and Carapace watched as she went flying away unwillingly, she rotated to catch herself before hoovering in the air, her eyes darted down to him just as he got up to where she had been.

"Help me!" He could see Mylēne wave her arms from where she was stuck in Ivan's hand.

" **You'll never take Mylēne from me! "** The hulking form of Stoneheart bellowed as he jumped up to a raised part of the platform, his heavy impact had sent him down into his butt before he could make use of his tool.

He jumped up and latched onto the steel beams of the tower slowly bringing himself up with only his free hand as leverage. " **Come to me my stone beings!** "

The tower began to shake with each Rocky hand that grasped hold of it, the grumbles and grunts of each of the minions echoed around them as they climbed higher and Higher.

Carapace looked over the edge of the railing seeing the advancing beings with a hint of worry on his face, He hadn't faired very well when he went up against them last and now he might have to do it again.

Ladybug landed next to him as she too surveyed the scene, her eyes moving up to Stoneheart himself.

"Alright, so we're surrounded." Carapace started, walking closer to Ladybug in a half pace. " he's climbing higher and we have no way of attacking him. "

"yes, but we know where the Akuma is." Carapace turned to look where she was, seeing stoneheart climbing up the metal above them.

" In his clenched fist, the one he's holding Mylēne with. So..." He trailed off, trying to think of some way for them to separate both Ivan and Mylēne, at least long enough to get the akumatised object.

"So we know he's in love with her." Her eyes widened, then came the joyous smile that accompanied her exaggerated arm movements. "That's it, We don't separate Stoneheart and Mylène: we bring them closer together." She brought her hands together, palms flat as she tilted her head to the side, as if daydreaming. "They're made for each other, they just don't know if yet."

Her wings flapped as she jumped off the platform, dropping for a second before she floated upwards, body facing him as she twirled her yo-yo next to her.

"I don't see what you see, but I trust you. Let's get this done." He took a few steps forwards before leaping up to stand on the railing, Ladybugs Yo-Yo wrapped around his torso tightly. "You know, I feel like this," he gestured to her tool, " is going to be a common thing from now on. "

"Just letting you keep up."

She took off, wings bringing her up higher as she circled around the tower, Carapace had his feet hitting the metal as he ran to keep up with her momentum. Her wire did most of the work in pulling him up, his eyes caught the helicopters that were getting just a little too close for his liking.

As he cleared the railing of the upper most platform Ladybugs yo-yo slipped off of him and he landed in a roll. Ladybug herself used her momentum to flip her body around and down until she landed perfectly onto one of the small poles above.

Mylēne saw her from her place in Stonehearts hand and she reached out towards ladybug despite the considerable distance. "Help! I'm scared of heights!"

" everything going to be ok! "

Stoneheart let out a gravely roar as the two helicopters got way too close, they veered off and almost began to get out of control before they straightened themselves back to normal and backed off.

Carapace rubbed his ears as he looked around him, seeing the Stoneheart copies pulling themselves over the railing and up to where he was.

He dodged the first wild swing with a back-peddle, his arm reached behind him and pulled his shield off his back as he rolled away from a second swing.

Bringing his shield up he let a third hit connect, the force making him slide away slightly, yet it left him no worse for wear. Feeling the heavy footsteps coming from behind him he turned his shoulders to peak behind him, standing there, arms raised ready to come down on him was a third Stoneheart being, the other two being positioned in front of him.

Seeing as he had no room to move or dodge, he raised his shield up. "Shell-ter!" The invincible dome of magic formed around him just before any more hits could connect to him. With the passing seconds he could feel the three present minions pounding away at his defences. If they weren't dealt with soon he would be forced to maintain the barrier until his transformation dropped.

"If you're going to do something, now's the time dudette!"

She breathed in, out, then locked eyes on Ivan. It was now or never, all or nothing.

"Lucky Charm!" Here yo-yo split open, the cloud of Ladybug swarmed together to create a, "Parachute? What am I supposed to do with this?"

Seeing one of the beings step abck, Carapace dropped his barrier before darting between the now empty space, hands grabbing into the support for the section in which Ladybug was perched he pulled himself up and just out of their reach. "We gotta work fast, my timers going!" To illustrate his point his miraculous let out its first set of beeps as the first segment faded away.

" Just get ready. "

She threw her yo-yo, the string going under Stonehearts arm before coming back around his neck and up to her. She grabbed hold of the end and braced her feet into the area in which she was standing.

She pulled hard, causing Stonhearts hand to be pulled closer to his chest, where once the two of them were close enough, Mylēne accidentally kissed his chest, just below his chin.

She released the Yo-yo wire as he reacted, throwing his arm out in surprise, the fingers opening enough to send the akumatised object tumbling down.

Mylēne herself was airborne too, body flung down and close to Stonehearts hand again, but she was moving just a little too far away to be caught again. Carapace acted, he Jumped up and over one of the minions before jumping down to the original, as he slide down his arm he threw hit shield at the Akumatised object like it was a frisbee.

He slid down the rest of Ivan's arm before stopping at the edge of his fingers, one hand holding onto the rock giant while the other grabbed Mylēnes arm to prevent her from falling down.

"Gotcha!"

Carapace's Shield flew down, it's front side faced down, halfway down it caught the solidified ball of paper and began a slow climb back up the tower as the shield attempted to return to its owner. His throw had meant it had severely overextended that, going above ladybug, where the object dropped off the shield as it flew overhead.

" Got it! " She wrapped her wire around it before tightening it as it leaned against the hard edge of her tool, the object cracked and the black and purple Akuma escaped from it.

Ladybug relaxed slightly as she saw it, finally this could be over once and for all... For now anyway.

She flicked open her yo-yo, the pure white energy on display once more, it dropped to hang limply by her side before she began to spin it violently, her eyes locked onto the butterfly before it could get away again.

"No more evil doing for you Little Aku-"

The sight of the black energy around Stoneheart caught her eyes and as snapped her attention to the dangling trio, faster then she could react Stoneheart had transformed back into Ivan, the sever size difference meant that his hand had lost grip on the tower, body now a few meters away from any and all handholds and she watched as all three of them began to fall from where they were.

In his surprise Carapace had let go of Mylēne, his slightly heavier body dragging him down faster then her, Down below the people watched and yelled as one of the hero's and the two kids fell.

Ladybug looked down to them, then back up to the Akuma as it flew away from them. She did this for another second before she took a leap off the top of her perch, her wings flapping hard to propel her downwards faster. Her hand tightened around the straps of the Parachute before she violently spun her body around and threw it towards her partner.

"Carapace! You take care of Ivan!"

As she flew down to intercept Mylēne he caught the Parachute, eyes quickly scanning over the item as he assessed the best course of action to take, a quick glance showed that the Parachute would not support two people, as least, not at the altitude they where at.

acting quickly he grabbed a hold of Ivan's ankle, spinning the two of them around rapidly as he quickly maneuvered the Parachute to fit on Ivan's back while gaining minimal protest. Just as he was done he spun himself back around to his front so the two of them were face to face.

"Don't panic." He placed his feet to Ivan's chest just after clipping the buckle up, one hand grabbing the release handle . With a strong push he attempted to slow Ivan's decent as Much as he could while he pulled the handle so the 'Chute would open.

"Gotcha!" With one arm around Mylēne Ladybug swing back around and pulled her yo-yo to her, the Akuma now trapped within. Her eyes widened as she watched Carapace fall away from Ivan, her Lucky Charm doing it job in saving Ivan but that was NOT what she had thought he would do with it.

as her other arm caught around Mylēne she tried to fly down just that bit faster to try to catch up to him, maybe she could grab him too, maybe she could use her Yo-yo on him again. But as she tilted to go down faster, she felt Mylēne tighten her grip on her and had to let up on it, she had to let Carapace fall on his own.

Her heart raced at the idea of something happening to him now, they had only just begun their work as heroes, she couldn't let him get hurt cause of her own mistake. Her heart yearned and preyed that he would be unharmed.

There was a moment of silence from everyone, all eyes turned to Carapace, concern fear, panic. Suddenly His Hand shot out, body twisting to catch his wayward shield as it finally came back around to its owner. With barley a few dozen metres between himself and the floor he righted himself to have his feet downwards.

"FORTIFY ! " The pale green energy surrounded him as he fell, glowing visibly for people to see. His legs bent just before he hit the ground, a loud klang echoed around the area as his shield hit the concrete.

Everyone watched, concern and curiosity hitting everyone as they watched the still hero.

Carapace breathed hard as his heart hammered in his chest, blood rushed through his ears and he heard nothing but his own breathing, he was in a kneeling position, his right leg was bend back, knee on the ground, his left leg was bend up, foot planted firmly. His head was bowed as he looked to the floor as his shoulders raised and lowered with each breath.

With a small groan he slowly stood up, head raising to look at the spectators, his shield raised off the ground to show the cracks that had been left behind by the impact. Slowly he raised his shield before attaching it to his back as Ladybug landed beside him, Mylēne in her arms.

As she let her down to the floor he turned around to catch a hold of Ivan, helping him settle his feet before taking the parachute off him As he supported the bigger boy.

Silently Ladybug took the item from his hand, before looking at it with a look of contemplation before she bent her knees and threw it up.

"MIRACULOUS LADYBUG!"

He watched as the item glowed before exploding into hundreds of red ladybugs that swarmed all over Paris, restoring the damage that had been caused by Both of Ivan's akumatizations.

The crumbled building was restored, the bent frames of the tower where undone and lastly, the cracks beneath his feet where repaired.

"Whoa... thats..."

" Miraculous. "

The two Hero's looked to each other, small smiles on their faces and Ladybug had to fight the urge to look embarresed, there was something about Carapace's impressed look that sent a shiver down her spine.

"Pound it!" As there fists collided Carapace's bracelet let out another ring, warning him of his impending de-transformation.

" I'll see you next time bug, you two stay safe too. " He nodded to Mylēne and Ivan before taking off away from the scene.

* * *

The sound of the increasing downpour hit the boys ears, besides Nino, Adrien fidgeted with the strap of his bag as he looked over to the Blue haired girl.

Paranoia was apparent on his features and Nino thought his new friend would pass out and have a headache if he was left to think. "Just go talk to her dude, she's not going to bite you. "

"I...uhh.... What do I say though? I don't want to make things worse."

Nino sling his arm over Adrien's shoulders, squeezing him a little. " Just be yourself, explain what happened and most importantly, be truthful and open. Nette will come around. "

"I... Ok."

Nino leaned against the wall as he watched the blonde boy approach Marinette. Content to let things transpire naturally and without interference from his part.

"It was nice of you to help him out." Nino looked down to see Wayzz peaking out of his jacket. He rubbed the little Kwami's head with his finger, sort of petting him in a weird way.

"Of course, it's the least I could do after not speaking up earlier, besides Mari's the forgiving type. She's never held a real grudge for long."

" such a kind heart, it's no wonder you like her. " Nino sputtered slightly as he tried to find some counter but came up blank before he signed in defeat.

"Yeah, I know. Shame she doesn't see me as anything other then a friend though."

" who knows, maybe on day things will change. "

"Perhaps dude." Nino walked forwards as Adrien walked away from Marinette, leaving her with his umbrella.

it seemed all went well if the gentle look on her face was any indication, he bumped shoulders with her as he came up to her, gaining her attention.

"So, everything good now?"

" Yeah... I messed up earlier. " Nino leaned against her shoulder as he scooted under the umbrella with her.

"Didn't we both. Now what say I walk home with you so you don't slip?"

Marinette giggled at him before poking his chest. " You just want an excuse to get free treats. "

"Well... Yeah, no need to call me out like that."

The two of them laughed their way to Marinette's house, both none the wiser to the elderly man who watched from down the road. His own umbrella shielding him and the black cat Kwami.

"Alright, I'll admit, you choose well. Now can we get out of the rain? I don't like getting wet. "

Fu chuckled before he turned away from the duo, he knew the miraculous would be in good hands now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nino's jacket is based off of this:  
> https://www.beautifulhalo.com/mens-sportive-short-sleeve-drawstring-hood-plain-zipper-hoodie-p-391068.html?curSize=L&showColor=Black¤cy1=GBP&track=PA_G_SGB321&gclid=Cj0KCQjwtLT1BRD9ARIsAMH3BtVRWksDwu7MtVPWkP0jfFC_560EYyBcuRh62ZosPrqfGqSqNnwajDsaAqahEALw_wcB
> 
> You just have to imagine it in the details given to it, there are no real references for me to give.
> 
> Ladybug redesign by lunian on Tumblr here: https://lunian.tumblr.com/post/187946955609/me-my-salty-ass-who-is-asking-for-justice-for


	3. Lady Wi-Fi

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A butterfly, a Phone and a hunt for the truth.
> 
> It makes for a powerful combination when your in Paris.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... Explanations are in order.
> 
> Basically I took one look at my two 10k word chapters and went "welp, I can't keep up with that" a kinda backed off a bit, wish I didn't.
> 
> So from here on out chapters will most likely be shorter but not less interesting.
> 
> I also realized basically writing the entire plot of miraculous Ladybug out damn near word for word would be really boring for you guys.

If there was one thing Nino hated, it was leaving Ladybug hanging during an Akuma attack. Being temporally separated was one thing, it was another thing to come in a whole hour after it had started to only be around for five minutes.

Still he probably would have been on time had Marinette not so desperately needed the bathroom and been gone as long as she was. It wasn't her fault of course, it's not like she knew he was Carapace and purposely made it difficult for him.

He'd run out the classroom the second the bell rang, transformed and got to the fight as quickly as possible.

Besides the Akuma wasn't that dangerous, it was just a kid... But if that didn't get Nino's big brother instincts going off then nothing would.

Hawkmoth akumatised a child.

Throwing his Shield into his face was the only thing he would ever give Hawkmoth.

That was neither here nor now. So he would have to let it go for now.

Luckily he hadn't needed to use Shell-ter so he had managed to get back quick enough to make it seem like he hadn't even left school. Despite it being over he didn't want people to question how he went in and never came back out without being seen. Which was why he was walking back out the front doors of the school while adjusting his bag.

"Nino wait." Feeling a hand grab his wrist he turned to the source of the voice. Alya .

"Hey dudette, what's up?"

"Come with me." As quick as that she began to drag him away and he had to refrain from trying to pull out her grasp. He wasn't uncomfortable, it was just that you gained a few... Reactions when fighting Akuma. "I need your help."

She dragged the two of them down the school steps and onto an out of the way bench. Nino took a seat on his side before propping one foot on his other knee as he leaned back with folded arms.

"So what did you-"

" Shh. " The finger on his lips was enough to silence him, if only because of the surprise.

He watched as Alya dialed someone, put it to Her ear before letting out a growl before locking her phone.

"I hate when she goes awole." Ah. Marinette right. Both Alya and Marinette had become fast friends since the their first meeting and while it didn't diminish his and Marinette's friendship, it was more special to her. "She's not calling me back where is that girl?"

" Seriously, Adrien's kinda the same too. But I suppose you gotta get crafty when 'Mr. Control freak' is your daddy-o. " Alya's faced scrunched up at that and Nino hoped she wasn't noticing that he also went missing quiet a bit. He had a legit reason of course, Adrien too, Marinette... Well he wasn't sure her reason but he doubted it was anything bad.

Alya's phone chimed and he leaned over closer to seen what it was as she turned it towards him. A short clip of him and Ladybug... Ugh, Carapace and Ladybug, showed them comforting the victim and giving a nervous wave to everyone.

That had happened roughly ten minutes ago, so he was a little surprised that the news crew managed to air the recording already. It was probably done from the news van if he had to guess.

"That's it!" He blinked as Alya opened Marinette's bag, took out a sticky note and her tablet before she began to write on the note. " I'm think I just sniffed out who the real Ladybug is! "

For a second Nino's brain froze and very suddenly he didn't want to hear what Alya was going to say. It was far, far too risky to learn his partners identity.

As she finished writing the note, which he did not even try to look at, she leaned close to his ear and whispered. "Chloé."

Something bubbled in his chest. He let it out in the form of a humored laugh before placing a hand on Alya's shoulder.

"Chloé's not Ladybug, She too..." He twisted his other hand in a thoughtful manner. "Self absorbent, harsh and uncaring to be saving Paris every couple of days."

Not to mention that the girl had been saved by _Ladybug_ after begin thrown off the Eiffel tower by stoneheart. But that was not something Nino could say as it was something Carapace knew, not Nino.

"I know I'm Right, and when I prove it, you'll see." Nino watched as she got up and left with Marinette's belongings, no doubt going to return them.

Once she was out of sight he poked his jacket were he knew Wayzz was hiding. The little being stuck his head out cautiously, only flying out once he deemed it safe.

"I know Alya's wrong about Chloé being ladybug but I can't help but feel like this is going to cause a problem."

The turtle Kwami look at him for a moments before floating down to sit on his shoulder. "Indeed but it is important to remember that you are all young, you are going to be a little irrational but what is important is you learn from it."

Nino chuckled before petting Wayzz on the head, a gesture he seemed to enjoy. "Always so full of wisdom aren't you dude? A Box of Macaroons in one of our favorite flavours if we're right."

" Deal. "

* * *

"I'm telling you Alya, if Chloé's Ladybug then that makes me Hawkmoth."

" Very funny Nino. "

Nino was not having a good morning, first being dragged away to this corner by Alya and now having to watch her trying to get evidence that Chloé was Ladybug. Despite the fact that there was actually evidence to prove the contrary.

"Look man, I'm not gonna stop your theories and whatever but don't drag me into it," taking note of her expression he pointed over the where Adrien was just climbing out his car. "Look why don't you ask Adrien, he'd be on board to find out who Ladybug is and he Chloé's friend. So it's a win-win for you."

Even if Nino knew it was already a lost cause.

"You know what? Maybe I will." At least she was out of his hair.

* * *

NOTE TO SELF: DON'T MAKE DEALS WITH POWERFUL GOD LIKE BEINGS!

You will lose, period.

It was bad enough that an Akuma attack was happening in the middle of School but what was worse was that it was Alya who was akumatised. All of this was over her ~~incorrect~~ hunch of Chloé being Ladybug.

Not only that but Chloé had gotten Alya suspended for a week, just cause she took a picture of her locker. Sure it was rude and a little invasive but not worthy of being suspended.

Still he was a little greatful at being at ground zero today, at least he wouldn't leave Ladybug hanging for long, if at all.

Ducking into an alleyway he transformed. To avoid suspicion he jumped up the nearby fire escape until he was on top of the building.

As peaceful as it was, he had a job to do.

he knew it was Alya who was akumatised, he knew she was after the truth of ladybugs identity and that she heavily suspected Chloé. Her Akuma name was Lady Wi-Fi.

Nino had figured that the names were quite literal towards what the Akuma could do.

Stoneheart? Big guy of stone who's cause was the matters of his heart.

Lady Wi-Fi? Well, he's going to assume some Wi-Fi based powers. But first he needed to find her.

fortunately he knew where to start.

He took off running on the rooftops, head twisting left and right just in case she decided to surprise him out of nowhere. Nothing, not even the standard level of panic the civilians had when an Akuma was running rampant, cause one wasn't doing so publicly.

He hoped Ladybug was out and about looking as well, just to make it easier to pinpoint her down. Jumping down to street level, and startling a few locals, he looked up at the building he had brought himself towards.

The Le Grand Paris hotel. Chloé's home.

Alya would come after Chloé, all he had to do was wait for her to show up. As he stepped up to the hotel he nodded to the doorman who had held the door open to him, seeing heads turn to him was an odd sight and he had to double check not make sure he was actually transformed.

"Mr. Bourgeois. A word."

Paris' Mayor turned away from those he was addressing, seeing him dismiss the others before stepping closer to him.

"Ah, Carapace. What business brings you here?" He could see the man was fidgety, having a hero nearby often meant trouble followed, though through no fault of there's of course.

"Akuma I'm afraid, I have reason to believe they'll be coming for your daughter Chloé." He saw the way the man twitched, saw that worried and fearful look go in his eye before it was plasted over by neutrality.

"Oh dear, what can I do to help?"

" Since I believe they'll come for Chloé I feel it would be best if I stick near her, keep her safe even before they arrive. "

"Yes, yes, of course." The older man began to guide the younger one to the elevator. "Please do see that she's kept unharmed, I don't think I can take it."

"Of course dude, that my job after all." As the elevator closed he slumped slightly. "Of course I wouldn't be here if your daughter didn't cause problems." After this he was so going to get two boxes of Macaroons, one for him and one for Wayzz.

Once at the top floor he walked up to Chloé's door and gave it a hard knock three times then waited. The door opened slowly, Chloé was half peaking out, as if hiding her body behind the door. Her eyes widened upon seeing him but there wasn't fear in those eyes. No recognition that she was in danger, she held the look of someone who got exactly what they just wanted.

"May I come in?"

" Of course " She opened the door and... Oh, that's why she was hiding. She was wearing a replica of Ladybugs suit, from the boots to the jacket it was highly accurate.

How had she managed to do that?

"Although I won't complain, what brings you to my home?" Nino's eyes darted over the room, taking note of all the electronics, just in case Alya could control them.

"Lady Wi-Fi, the Akuma, I believe she may be after you." She could see Chloé flinch, no doubt remembering her impromptu flight off the Eiffel tower courtesy of Stoneheart. "So I decided to do two things at once, one," he held up a finger as he stopped in the middle of the room. " protect you, two " he help up a second finger. "Prepare an ambush, hopefully Ladybug can get to us before Lady Wi-Fi and we should have this in the bag."

" Oh... Well make yourself comfortable I guess. " Chloé picked up a replica of Ladybugs Yo-Yo and began to go through basic moves with it. Huh... Didn't Alya say she saw something like that? Probably what started this whole mess.

"Gotta say, I'm impressed with your outfit, highly accurate. Where'd you get it made?"

"Personal tailor." she brought the yo-yo up to her hand and held it before resting a hand on her hip. " What do you mean highly accurate? It should be perfect. "

"Your missing the fifth spot on the centre of your back, on top of which those two segments on your back should be separated as two individual pieces, as that's where Ladybugs wings are. " His eyes glanced over as he circled her. "I also think there should be a red stripe on your boots and red spots on your shoulders, other then that it's mostly accurate."

" Ridiculous, utterly Ridiculous. I told them it was wrong. "

Oh, boy. He just unleashed the beast, it was going to be a long, long day.

* * *

Around an hour had passed since he arrived, Chloé had spent a good amount of that time either yelling down the landline or practicing her yo-yo skills while talking to him... About Ladybug.

Of course she had taken pictures of him too but had said it was for reference. Meaning she was probably also going to get a Carapace suit made too.

Nino never took Chloé at the cosplaying type, admirer sure but not to this extent. Ah well, imitation was the highest form of flattery after all.

Oddly enough there hasn't been a peep out of Lady Wi-Fi once, there had been some reports of Ladybug flying around but not once had the Akuma turn up. It was really getting on his nerves now.

Seeing that Chloé was occupied with the Yo-Yo he stepped out onto the balcony for a bit of air. His goggled eyes scanned the nearby buildings, maybe he'd see the Akuma lurking about.

He saw Ladybug And he continued to scan over the other buildings before his head snapped back to his partner. He brought one hand up to his mouth to whistle while he waved the other to entice her over.

It was the flash of bright light behind him that made him turn around before his partner could get over to him.

There she was, Lady Wi-Fi, odd, she didn't look too different to how she normally looked. Save for the black and purple clothes and black mask.

Oh, she already had Chloé locked in place... By a pause sign? What did she have weird recording style powers? Didn't really fit with the Wi-Fi theme if he was honest.

As She leaned on Chloé's shoulder Carapace opened the door and pulled his Shield off his back, launching it towards Lady Wi-Fi. She ducked at the last second and stayed down until the shield passed back over her and into Carapace's hands.

"Sorry to interrupt your stream." He adjusted into a defensive stance , half ready to throw the shield and half ready to defend himself. "But I'm afraid you've got a glitch."

" Oh look, the tiny turtle has come to save his love bug. " His face scrunched up and he had to fight down a gag.

"Eww, no. Chloé's not my type. Besides she's not Ladybug."

The doors behind him burst open and his partner landed before him, wings flapping wildly in what he could only assume was agitation. Her Yo-Yo spun rapidly at her side, forming a defensive barrier between her and the Akuma.

"That's Ladybug."

Lady Wi-Fi looked between both his partner and Chloé and while he wanted to just launch his Shield at her a second time he had a feeling Alya would not hesitate to use Chloé as cover.

"But! I thought you were Ladybug!?"

" Really? The girl _I_ saved is actually me? " At least for a moment Alya seemed to sputter, as if trying to find some foothold to continue her argument.

he watched as she swiped her phone, the pause button on Chloé disappearing and the girl went tumbling across the room with her previous momentum. That looked like it hurt.

"What does it matter?" Lady Wi-Fi let out a laugh as she leveled her phone at them. " Now that I have the real Ladybug I can unmask you. "

She threw several blasts and Carapace used his Shield to block them, each blast dissipated upon contact with his Shield instead of being subject to whatever she had been trying to cause.

He felt his partner hit his back, trying to gain his attention. "Follow my lead." Then she leapt over his shoulder allowing her wings to guide her just to the side of Alya and make it past her.

waiting no time he followed suit by charging straight forwards and jumping right over her head, switching into a roll at the last second to keep as much momentum as possible before he sprinted down the hallway after his partner in...

Magic controlled victim fighting?

It didn't have a good ring to it.

"So." He spoke as he jumped down the entire flight of stairs, Ladybug herself was using her wings to flutter from wall to wall where she pushed off each for that extra bit of momentum. "What's the plan?"

" We get down to the basement, her phone requires a Wi-Fi signal and the lower we go... "

"The worse her signal becomes." he finished, head darting upwards to see how far up the Akuma was, he ducked under the incoming projectile before he began to move faster. "No signal, No service."

"Exactly." The two of them stopped as they hit the lowest level, weapons raised and ready to deal with whatever Alya could throw at them.

Nino didn't want to think about the possibility of failure, imagining an army of Akuma who could literally freeze you in place. An army of Stonehearts was bad, he didn't want to think about what an army of Lady Wi-Fi's could do.

"Did you really think I was Chloé?"

He paused and spared a glance over his shoulder, giving Ladybug a 'are you serious right now?' look. "Now ain't the time bug."

" Right, Sorry. "

Both of them waited a moment longer and both grew more concerned when Lady Wi-Fi didn't show up. She had been right behind them both, they couldn't have lost her on the stairs.

The banging of one of the doors made him groan. "She didn't take the bait, we gotta go." He began to run up the steps two at a time, Ladybug flying tightly around each corner, pushing off walls as they ascended.

Both of them shot forwards, Ladybug was hovering with her wings, kicking off each surface to maintain above the stairs level, Carapace jumped up two steps at a time.

"Seriously though, do people mistake Chloé for me? "

"Didn't fool me for a second. "

Carapace cursed internally at seeing the first locked door, then the second. He was just annoyed after the fourth.

Both hero's stopped at the first unlocked door.

"Get ready." He raised his Shield slightly before kicking the door open, it collided with the wall and the two of them stepping in ready to-

It was empty. "Odd I expected an ambush." He hummed in agreement, he certainly would have set up an ambush.

"What I find strange is the phones."

There were phones everywhere, one on each table and even a few just scattered on the floor. It looked both haphazard and creepy all at once.

Just where had these phones come from?

A flicker of light came from one of the phones before Lady Wi-Fi herself emerged from it, hand already in position to launch something at them.

"Surprise!"

The split second reflex to raise his Shield in front of him was very welcome. The blast destroyed itself against his Shield and he and Ladybug jumped away from each other to force the Akuma to have to separate her attention.

He vaulted over a low barrier, tucking his legs up as he went over. As soon as his feet hit the floor he moved into a roll before taking cover behind the table he had just upturned.

Given that Alya had been one of the least destructive Akuma's yet, he was entirely unprepared for the table to be thrown at him by the sheer force of her weapons blasts.

left slightly disoriented he hardly had time to see Lady Wi-Fi gloating at him, at least, not until Ladybugs Yo-Yo Wrapped around her completely, tying her up tightly to the point she flopped over on the table face first.

"I don't think so." As he began to stand up Ladybug strutted forwards, confident that this was finally over.

At least until Lady Wi-Fi disappeared and reappeared from a different phone before immediately flickering between a few of them.

"Ha! You think a little wires going to stop me?"

Ladybugs eyes flickered around the tables before she spun her Yo-Yo next to her. With a flick of her wrist she launched the Yo-Yo at the table next to her, Crushing the Phone beneath it's strength.

Each Phone destroyed left the Akuma with one less avenue of escape, any time a phone she had been near was about to be destroyed she teleported to a different Phone so she wouldn't be hit.

When the last phone was destroyed Lady Wi-Fi started to make a break for the kitchen area. But Carapace wasnt fooled by the 'retreat', not by a long shot.

Pulling his tool off his belt he pressed a sequence onto the Turtle shell pattern on top. Ever since Stoneheart he had spent hours figuring out his second tool so that he could utilize everything at his disposal.

he threw it after the retreating ~~Villain~~ Victim, it sailed over Ladybugs shoulders and even past Lady Wi-Fi as it shot towards the door.

Lady Wi-Fi looked back over her shoulders, smirking at him like she had won. But looking back forwards almost caused her to trip over her own two feet.

The tool had done exactly as Carapace had wanted it to, each of the 'leg holes ' had shot out their wires, causing the Turtle feet looking tips to embeds into each corner of the wall. Making the tool into a poorly made barricade.

But what truly mattered was that the top 'shell' had lifted slightly and from underneath it a small circle had come out from beneath making the tools shell larger, then another from behind the enlarged circle. Then another.

By the time Lady Wi-Fi got to the door it had already covered most of the doorway, leaving little space to get past it.

She banged her hands onto the near invincible barrier before turning back to Ladybug.

"Good job Carapace, you've got nowhere to go now Wi-Fi. "

As Ladybug zeroed in on her the Akuma eyes darted around until they landed onto the Phone that had been knocked to the floor when Carapace had upended the table.

"That's what you think." Disappearing into a flash of light Lady Wi-Fi emerged from the other phone, directly behind Carapace.

Shield-less, Tool-less and caught completely by surprise he didn't have time to turn around before he felt the sharp kick hit his back.

He did, However, manage to make his fall into a roll to avoid the magic blasts.

Spinning so he was facing Lady Wi-Fi he stared her down, with nothing to use to go on the defensive he switched to the offensive.

Jumping from his crouched position he reared back his arm as he drew closer to Alya, as his feet hit the ground he stabilised his legs, putting more power into his legs and hips as he swung his fist forwards.

Lady Wi-Fi barely moved out of the way and the side of his fist touched her cheek as it sailed past her. His fist collided with a pillar and a spider crack was left behind that extended up half the marble.

Instinctively Lady Wi-Fi Gulped.

* * *

On the other end of the connection Hawkmoth flinched slightly. He was only given all the more reason to stay hidden away.

* * *

Without waiting a second Carapace forced his weight into his other leg before wildly swinging the same hand towards the Akuma. Nearly back Handing her in the process.

with each attempted swing and block Lady Wi-Fi was pushed back more and more. Her moves became more sporadic and desperate the longer she couldn't use her phone.

And sometimes desperation leads to creativity.

Seeing the working phone beneath her Lady Wi-Fi kicked it across the room just as Carapace Shoulder barged her into the wall, damn near knocking the wind out of her.

She gave him a weak smirk as she disappeared into the code again and emerged in the other end of the room. Hand ready to launch her next attack.

Fingers gliding across the screen she launched a lock symbol, intent to incapacitate the Turtle hero.

The boy hero was like a deer in a headlight.

"Carapace Move!"

Ladybug, who had been waiting for a good moment to intervene safely, barged her shoulder into Carapace, forcing him to tumble to the gound, the lock symbol attached to Ladybugs right wrist and dragged her back to the wall behind her. Quite literally locking her in place.

**_"Excellent work, Lady Wi-Fi, now get me my_ miraculous."**

" Of course Hawkmoth, a deal is a deal after all. "

Pulling up a pause sign she aimed it at Ladybug, she could deal with the Turtle once she was fully stuck.

Carapace didn't think about his next action, not the results or the consequences.

He shot up, body spinning to put his back to Lady Wi-Fi as she launched her shot. He brought his hands up and firmly placed his palms over her ears covering her miraculous.

His body froze solid as the blast hit him. Ladybug could only stare at him while her head was locked in place.

_'His eyes were nice to look at'_

Wait what? Not now Brain! She forced a blink while she tried to force her growing Blush to lessen.

"Not what I went for..." She could hear Alya's voice coming closer. "But oh so much better."

As she stepped into view Lady Wi-Fi placed a camera up above them and she was sure all of Paris was now seeing them stuck like this.

"Who is Ladybug? Is she a super hero or a super weirdo? Why don't we find out?"

She was about to reach for her mask before Hawkmoths symbol appeared on her face agian, her eyes darting to Ladybugs mask and Carapace's hands.

It seemed that it was only now that Lady Wi-Fi realised exactly what Carapace had done. She could see the outline of Hawkmoths mask on her face, her eyes darting to Carapace's Miraculous and back at her.

"New plan, who Is Carapace? A true protector or just some Ninja turtle knock off."

As she reached for His miraculous, Ladybug lifted her left, unrestrained, hand and wrapped her fingers around his wrist, leaving his miraculous locked in place.

"Try again Wi-Fi."

That seemed to tick her off and although she did try to pry Ladybugs hand away it was a fruitless endeavour. Once more Hawkmoths symbol appeared over Lady Wi-Fi's face.

With a few flicks of her wrist she sent lock symbols to every possible exit before dismissing the locks that held those two in place just before she disappeared into her phone.

Carapace blinked and pulled his hands away as Ladybug began to pace, he looked around seeing the lack of an escape and a partner that was getting more panicky.

At least he thought she was getting panicky. He wasn't sure he had learned a lot about his partner.

"What's going on, how long was I out?" He leaned down and picked up his Shield from where it lay ever since he had been launched across the room, he attached it to his back as he made a slow walk over to his other tool.

" where do I begin? We're locked in here, Alya's on the run who knows where, you were out for only a few minutes and she nearly had your miraculous. "

He paused as he rested his hand against the metal wall his tool had constructed. "We're still new to this bug, still learning, mistakes will be made, we just have to learn. "

"How are you so wise?"

"Thank Wayzz, he's the one imparting his wisdom onto me. " Carapace looked around As he attached his shrunken tool to his hip.

Each door and window had lock signs and there were a few cameras around, well the magical ones anyway.

"This is bad, no direct way out. "

"Not a direct one no." Ladybug pulled her Yo-Yo from her hip. " Lucky Charm! "

* * *

Outside the building the people who were gathered there waited in uneasy agitation, the scare that was Lady Wi-Fi coming out of Chloé's phone had left a few of them nervous.

What none of them were expecting was the explosion like sound to erupt from the front door of the hotel before it was kicked open by the two Hero's.

They left the smoking Microwave behind as Ladybug flew up towards the top of the hotel, Carapace holding onto the buisness end of her Yo-Yo, Legs pounding against the building wall as he ran up it.

Both heroes disappeared over the edge of the building and for a moment no-one heard anything until the entire Wi-Fi tower came crashing down onto the pavement.

It wasn't much longer that the wave of Ladybugs flew all around the hotel before flying off to other affected places, Ladybug herself flew away not much longer and everyone who had been outside began to feel a little awkward.

Could they just go back inside now? Like that?

Chloé especially began to feel self-conscious about still being outside in her Ladybug replica suit, she began to fidget slightly.

"-one on! Please!" Heads turned to the front doors of the hotel as Carapace exited the building. Hot on his heels was Alya, she was trying very hard to have her phones camera angles well enough to capture Carapace's face in the shot. "Just one question, please?"

" I'm sorry Miss ladyblogger but I can't, I have secrets and reasons for those secrets, besides... " He turned back to her, half ducking his head as he realised Alya was still recording. "Its getting late, you should get home before your friends and family worry about you."

That seemed to be the cue people needed to get moving, Hotel staff and guests went back into the hotel as if nothing had happened. Carapace turned to Chloé as she was walking past her, stopping her before she got far.

"And Chloé, don't ever be ashamed to dress up, I'm sure Ladybug was flattered to see you wearing her outfit."

Alya's eyes darted down Chloé, surprise and realisation setting in before her eye took on a more critical look.

She went to open her mouth but Chloé shoved her finger in her face. "I know it's inaccurate! Don't judge me Césaire! "

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IMPORTANT! I have a Tumblr here: https://spartanxhunterx.tumblr.com
> 
> If you would like to ask questions about this AU, do it here and I will be happy to answer them provided they're not too much of a spoiler.
> 
> Nino's jacket is based off of this:  
> https://www.beautifulhalo.com/mens-sportive-short-sleeve-drawstring-hood-plain-zipper-hoodie-p-391068.html?curSize=L&showColor=Black¤cy1=GBP&track=PA_G_SGB321&gclid=Cj0KCQjwtLT1BRD9ARIsAMH3BtVRWksDwu7MtVPWkP0jfFC_560EYyBcuRh62ZosPrqfGqSqNnwajDsaAqahEALw_wcB
> 
> You just have to imagine it in the details given to it, there are no real references for me to give.
> 
> Ladybug redesign by lunian on Tumblr here: https://lunian.tumblr.com/post/187946955609/me-my-salty-ass-who-is-asking-for-justice-for


	4. The Bubbler

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Birthdays, bubbles, and a bunch of emotions.
> 
> What can go wrong?

Normally Nino was excited for birthdays, between him, Kim and Marinette they were often a blast or at least memorable.

Today, however, was Adrien's birthday and Nino was a little afraid on how to proceed, just slightly really.

He'd only known Adrien for all of a few weeks and he felt like he didn't know much about his new bro-friend.

So he had decided to pick out a gift based on a little something that he did know about him. That was wrapped up in the box.

For now though, Nino's attention was drawn to the other item that had arrived with it. All very last minute but he didn't care. Opening the packaging he pulled out his brand new wireless headphones, gone was the plain orange and black colour scheme.

His new ones were custom designed with the outside of each ear piece looking like Carapace's shield, the inside was a dark green much like the darker shade on his costume and the head band came with a soft plush cushion of the same colour.

Overall, not bad and he could always claim it was his way in supporting the heroes, even if he looked a little biased towards his own alter-ego.

As long as their wasn't any harm, then there would be no foul.

"I'm not as caught up with technology as I probably should be." Wayzz stated as he flew around the headphones, inspecting them. "But I'd imagine these won't last forever, power wise at least."

" No they won't, " Nino picked up the headphones before pointing to a small cover, opening it to reveal the ports for wires. "That's why these are here, so I can re-charge it and not worry about power."

he placed them on his neck, feeling a little tension fall out of him at feeling the weight on his neck. He'd gotten slightly stir crazy without his last pair, which he had broken helping that old gentleman, he had almost been tempted to break out the old-old headphones that he kept locked away.

"That's better, come on dude." He opened up his jacket and waited for Wayzz to fly into the inner pocket. Picking up the wrapped present he tucked it under his arm before he left his room, messing up Chris' hair as he walked past him he called his goodbye as he shut the door.

* * *

"Here you go dude." Nino placed the slightly haphazardly wrapped present in front of Adrien before he swung around the table to sit in his seat. "Happy birthday dude."

" Oh, " seeing that look of genuine surprise on Adrien's face made this worth it, seeing the real excitement as his hands rested on top of the box before he turned to him. "Thanks Nino, you didn't have to do this you know."

" I know. " Nino leaned back slightly. "I wanted to, you're my buddy after all."

He leaned forwards, arm leaning against table. "Besides what friend would I be if I didn't celebrate my buddies birthday?" Holding up a hand to cut off Adrien's protesting he pointed to the gift. " Now are you going to sit there all day? Or open your present? We gotta get it done before miss Bustier gets in here. "

Nino watched as Adrien gave in, fingers carefully peeling back the paper as he tried so, so hard to not tear the paper.

Nino was patient though and let Adrien open it in his own time. By the time he was done the standard red paper was half torn off, half preserved and left all over their desk. Not that he minded though.

He saw Adrien peer into the clear plastic, seeing the Ladybug themed wireless headphones that were the same model as his.

It felt a little cheap or unoriginal but when the headphones came with a '50% for a second pair' deal he couldn't not capitalise on that. Besides, now he could also make the argument that they symbolized their friendship as they both had a single set of the pair.

"100% accurate, Ladybug themed headphones dude. How's that for a B-Day present?"

"Its... Wow, thanks Nino, I don't know what to say."

Slinging his arm over his shoulder he pulled Adrien into a side hug. "Its cool dude, Don't need to say anything," He smiled at him, getting one in return. "Say, why don't I throw you a party?"

That made Adrien's face drop slightly and Nino's own smile dropped as well.

"I don't know Nino... My father... I don't think he'd allow it."

Nino was about to respond, however, Both Marinette and Miss Bustier had entered the room. Marinette handed a wrapped gift to Adrien as she past him. "Happy birthday Adrien."

" Thanks Marinette. "

Before Bustier could get on their cases about the mess Nino scooped up the torn paper before depositing that into the trash bin as Adrien slipped the gifts into his bag.

"Alright class, hope you've settled down now. Cause its time we get started."

* * *

" Come on man, it's your B-day, Insists. " putting away his tube of bubble mix Nino wrapped his arm around Adrien's shoulder, leaning himself closer to him. "You know what? I'm gonna have a conversation with your pops."

"Don't waste your time, he's not going to change his mind." Nino shook his head. His best bud wasn't going to go without a birthday party, not if he could help it.

"Adrien, dude, I promise you, I will get your father to let you have a birthday party. I promise."

Adrien turned to him, about to respond but was interrupted by Chloé, who had come running from behind them and latched onto him in a sort of awkward hug.

"Adrikins! Happy birthday!" She pulled back and Nino caught onto the genuine smile she seemed to give him. Perhaps Nino was imagining things but he was sure Chloé had been smiling more ever since Adrien had started going to school. It was subtle, but he could see it.

Perhaps her friendship with Adrien meant more to her then people realised.

"Anyway. I ordered something special for you for your birthday, it should be there by this afternoon... Provided the moving guys aren't lazy or anything."

" Thanks Chloé, I'm sure I'll enjoy it. " A cars horn went off several times and the trio turned towards Adrien's limo as it pulled up. "Anyway, I gotta go, Photo shoot."

Nino's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "On your birthday? Not cool dude."

The two of them watched as he walked to the car and Nino adjusted his hat so it wasn't loose. "Looks like I've got some business to take care of with Adrien's old man."

"You. Speak with Gabriel? Don't make me laugh Lahiffe, Gabriel would never waste his time with you."

He shrugged at the blonde girl, a small smile etching onto his face. "So? I thought you of all people would have been thrilled that _someone_ was trying to give Adrien a B-Day party. "

"I'm just saying it how it is." Chloé spoke as she examined her nails. "Uncle Gabe is very stubborn and set in his ways. So don't come crying to me when you can't do anything."

"I'll keep that in mind... Cosplay."

" Hey! "

* * *

Standing in front of Adrien's house made Nino feel slightly inadequate and nervous. Here he was, outside his buddy's house that looked big enough to house his family, cousins and other distant relatives and still have empty space inside.

Given that it was only Adrien, his dad and several staff, he could understand why Adrien was so keen on getting out of the house. It must have been terribly quiet.

Stil, he resolved his nerves and pressed the button on the intercom as Wayzz nestled into the crook between the headphones and the back of his neck for his comfort, yet out of the way of prying eyes.

He was not, however, expecting to have a large camera come out of the wall and nearly smack him in the face.

_"Yes? How may I help you? "_

Must've been some fancy camera.

"Uhh... I'm Nino..." He spoke slowly, confusion clear in his voice. "I'm a friend of Adrien's and I was hoping to speak with his father regarding his birthday."

With each passing moment that was silent Nino grew more uncomfortable.

" _Please wait, I'll be out there to guide you in a moment. "_

within a minute the gates pulled back open and he could see someone walking towards him, he stepped several steps forwards until the two of them met.

"Come with me. Mr. Agreste will see you but only for a moment, he is a busy man."

Ah, this must have been his assistant. Nathalie, if he remembered correctly from when Adrien would take about his home.

The two of them stepped into the front door and Nino's hands shot into his jackets pockets and his hand fiddled with the bottle of bubble mix that was in there. He could feel Wayzz wiggling his way down his top and had to tense to not squirm in front of Nathalie.

Hqer head turned to him with one eyebrow raised but she didn't say anything.

"Nervous. Just a little."

She nodded before peering at her tablet before looking back up at him.

" Mr. Agreste will be here in a moment. "

Great... Just Great. He brought out his tube of bubble mix before unscrewing the cap, his hands fiddled with it as he waited, not spilling a drop.

Even though he knew they could most certainly afford to have to pay someone to clean it up.

Was it him or did the house feel cold?

"Adrien's not home yet." The sharp voice of the man of the house brought his attention to the top of the stairs, his hands freezing in place as he was dragged out of his thoughts.

He suppressed a shiver as he looked Mr. Agreste in the eye, he could feel no warmth coming from those eyes, not like what he saw when he looked in his mother's eyes.

Closing the cap of the tube he swallowed down his fear. "No I know du-Sir. I came to speak with you, actually."

" Me? " There was a shift in his posture that Nino couldn't place and the raise of an eyebrow that made him worry.

"Yes, I came to ask about giving Adrien a party du-Sir, it's his first birthday with some real friends and I think he really deserves to hav-"

" No. " Nino blinked at his cold voice, causing him to stop mid-sentence. "Adrien is my son, and I say what is best for him."

Somehow his eyes grew colder and Nino had to fight to not cringe away. None of the those present in the room noticed as Adrien slipped in behind them.

"Du-Sir. Adrien has been working really hard lately." Slowly Nino extending his fingers as he started his list. "Piano, Photo shoots, fencing, Chinese. I think it's only fair that he gets _one_ day to enjoy himself. "

"Nino?" He turned to his side seeing Adrien next him. " You're here? "

Wrapping his arm around Adrien's shoulders he pulled him closer before before bumping his fist to his shoulder. "Of course, you're my buddy."

" You know what young man? " Looking back up the stairs Nino grew hopeful, maybe he had gotten through to him. "I've just decided that you're a bad influence on my son." Both boys eyes widened at that, Nino's hands tightening around his bubble tube. "In fact, you are no longer welcome in my house ever again, leave."

" Father. " Adrien called out, pulling away from Nino but Gabriel didn't listen as he turned and walked to his study, adjusting his tie as he went.

Nathalie stepped in front of Nino before he could try to follow. "Goodbye."

Eyes darting between between her and Adrien, he took a deep breath in before turning and walking out.

Adrien caught up to him after he was a few steps out and stopped him by placing a hand on his shoulder. "Nino, I'm sorry, my father is stubborn... Thanks for trying though. "

"Its not fair Adrien..." Nino struggled to form his words as he gestured to Adrien, as if he could convey his thoughts that way. "Its totally not cool dude. "

Pulling his strap up his shoulder he turned and stalked away, he could feel Wayzz moving up his jacket again and he simply tapped where he was gently.

* * *

Plopping himself down on the park bench he pulled out his tube of bubble before taking the wand out and blowing a few bubbles out into the air.

"That dude it straight up not cool."

He switched forwards before resting his elbows on his knees. Trying to regulate his breathing and calm himself down, it wouldn't do to stay in a bad mood.

"But dad!" His eyes shot up, landing on the child who was trying, and failing, to break out of his father's grip.

"No Son, it's not playtime, you've got chores to do." He watched as the boy was taken out of the park before blowing a sharp breath out of his nose.

"Why have parents got to ruin everything man?"

Feeling Wayzz moving around again he opened his jacket enough to let him pop his head out. He didn't want to make him feel like he was trapped, not in the way Adrien was.

"You agree with me right little dude?" He turned his head away as he shook it. " I mean, we're kids, we should be allowed to have fun and be ourselves. "

"While I agree, I must say kids need adults, to guide them through life." Nino didn't stop him from floating out of his jacket, just a little in front of him as he started to look around. "But please calm down, being angry won't solve anything."

"Maybe not but I'm just so... Ugh, " he kicked his leg out at the grass, watching as it bounced back into place with ease.

"Please. Master, copy me. Deep breaths, in and out, copy me."

Nino turned to him, missing the pleading expression Wayzz was giving him before he groaned and rubbed his hand down his face. "You don't need to call me that dude, it's not necessary."

Today had been going so great until now and he couldn't help but feel like it was his fault.

He jerked slightly as Wayzz thumped against his temple. " Nino. Akuma. " The words spoken in his ear caused his head to jerk up, eyes widening as they landed on the black butterfly that was making a direct path to him.

"Woah!" He threw himself off the bench, before backing away from the butterfly without letting it out of his sights.

Why was an Akuma after him? He had a miraculous. Didn't they grant him immunity to being akumatised?

He grunted as his foot hit a upsticking root of a tree and he fell flat on his butt. His eyes darted back and forth as he tried to find some way out of this situation, his arms pushed against the ground as he tried to back away.

"Think happy thoughts!" Wayzz fluttered around him, trying to be both encouraging and hidden. "It can't get you if you're happy."

Happy thoughts? What was his most recent happy thought? Seeing Adrien happy this morning? Maybe Marinette's smile? that made him happy.

He could tell it wasn't working as the Akuma grew closer, his eyes darted to the tube in his hand and he threw it at the butterfly without thinking. As it made contact it sunk into it, leaving it to go a horrid grey colour.

"Ohh... That was close dude. Sorry about that." He kept his eye on it as he fell back to lay down on his back, just in case it came out on his own.

Wayzz landed on his shoulder before patting his check. " it's my fault, I should have warned you sooner, you're not immune to the Akuma's, I should have told you. "

Rubbing his head, Nino gave a slight huff. "Not your fault, I shouldn't have assumed." He sat up pulled Wayzz into the crook of his neck and gave him a one handed hug. "What are we gonna do about that?"

"We need to get Ladybug, then we release the Akuma and she can purify it. Don't touch it. "

He nodded as he began to stand. Eyes looking around to find the closest place to transform. He didn't want to leave the Akuma unattended for long.

"No!" His attention was drawn to the centre of the park, the boy from earlier was back and it looked like he was out for round two.

He watched as the boy ducked and weaved around people, doing his best to avoid his father. It looked like he really intended to stay at the park for as long as he wanted.

Which, now that he was looking at it more calmly, didn't look as good as it did before. He Could just imagine himself and Chris in that situation... It wasn't good.

Feeling Wayzz tugging at his clothes he was about to turn away before he saw the kid catch sight of the tube of Bubble mix. His eyes widened as he saw the kid make a break for it, no doubt thinking it was nothing more then bubbles.

"No, Kid! Don't! " Despite trying to run to it first, he had thrown it a good distance and had neglected to move closer in case the Akuma sprung out of it.

He, unfortunately, wasn't fast enough as the kid had picked it up before he could stop him. Hawkmoths symbol appeared over his eyes and Nino could see the discoloration that occurred around his eyes.

"Kid!" he Stopped before him, hands hesitating to reach for the akumatised object, in case it somehow affect him too. " Don't listen to him kid, he won't help you. "

The boys father stopped not that far from him, seemingly hesitating to come closer. Nino grew hopeful when the boys eyes looked towards him and not spaced out, maybe he did get through to him.

"Yes... Hawkmoth." Oh Speakers, Hats and tables that was not good.

The dark bubbles clouded around him and Nino scrambled to get a few feet back. As the bubbles peeled away he caught sight of the Akuma's form. And... ugh, it was going to make him sick just looking at it.

The boy now looked like a cartoon character, his top half was a bright red colour while his arms where a solid black, small 'bubbles' were sat around his joints and his legs were the same. He looked entirely like he was made out of plastic.

"Jason?" His father seemed to snap out of his stupor, stepping closer to his son. Nino was torn between running off to transform and staying to try to convince him to hand him the Akuma.

The akuma, Jason, turned his head towards the man with a frown on his face. "My name's not Jason." Quick as anything the boy raised his wrist and Nino saw what looked like a water gun strapped to his wrist , a small tube lead back to a tube looked backpack on his back. "Its bubble boy!"

In an instant a large bubble shot out and captured the man within it, turning it from its original purple to a sharp green, as the man floated up Nino decided that was his moment to finally get away.

* * *

The sound of an explosion caused Marinette to stumble off her chair with a scream, her dinner going flying, her mother jumped from the noise too.

scrambling to the window she could see both Carapace and an Akuma fighting it out.

"I... ugh, I'm going to my room! To hide!" Marinette scrambled up to her room, not giving her mother a second glance. Said woman stared after her daughter in confusion before closing the shutters on the window, just to be safe.

* * *

Carapace dodged to the side as another burst of bubbles shot past him, the park had long since vacated she to the Akuma and now it was just him and said Akuma.

"Listen to me kid! This isn't the way. This isn't solving anything, just causing more problems."

The akuma screamed at him, much in the same was all kids did when they were angry before pointing his bubble gum at him. "It's bubble boy! And I say it's playtime, Forever! "

Bubble boy fired off three massive bubbles towards him, two red and one purple. He knew he could deflect the red ones but he also couldn't touch the purple one without getting caught in it. He also would have time to deflect the red ones of he avoided the purple one.

He was about to cast Shell-ter when he felt something wrap around his torso. He was quickly yanked up and over the Akuma, at the peak of his impromptu swing he caught ladybugs eyes from where she was flying before he landed to a skidding halt well behind the Akuma.

"Just as a serious question. Is this going to become a regular thing with you? "

Fluttering down next to him, Ladybug let her yo-yo hang limply. "You're my partner, of course I'm going to protect you."

"Yeah, but that's my job." He muttered quietly before taking his shield off his back and holding it in front of him. " Be careful of his bubbles, red explodes, purple captures you and they're unbreakable. He's already sent someone high up with one. Akuma's either in the bubble gun or in the backpack. "

"Right," She nodded, eyes squinting at the Akuma . "Then let's get this done before I'm missed."

Spinning her Yo-Yo into the air she called out- "Lucky Charm!" - The ladybugs swarmed around each other into the air and came together to form A- "Skipping rope? How's this going to help?"

"He did say that he wanted playtime to last forever."

Ladybug nodded as she looked around, her nose scrunched up in thought. " Right I got it, " She tossed one end of the rope to him, which he caught. "You ever tie yourself up?"

Catching her meaning he nodded before he brought up his shield, the rope handle in his other hand. "Right, ready?" Receiving a nod he ran forwards, Ladybug floating just behind him.

"You won't stop me!" Bubble Boy raised his hand at them, a large red bubble forming at the end of the bubble gun. "It will be Playtime!" He launched the Bubble and it shot towards them with speed.

"Shell-ter! " A small semi-circular shield formed around his shield, protecting their front halves and allowed them to keep moving without removing it.

The bubble hit dead on, causing it to explode against it, the force caused his arm to real back. Instead of fighting against it he let himself be spun, throwing the shield once he was fully turned around again.

it flew through the air until it sailed right past the kids head, causing him to flinch in surprise.

Taking advantage of the momentary distraction Carapace slid to the boys left while Ladybug flew past his right, as soon as both of them passed by his shoulders they turned to loop behind him.

Carapace ended up on his right, while Ladybug was on this left, the skipping rope was looped around his chest and arms, loose.

"Now!" Both of them pulled, tightening the rope just enough to pin his arms down. Slowly Carapace wrapped his side of the rope around his arm as he moved closer.

Grabbing the Akumatised object he carefully removed it from the boy before violently tossing it towards his returning shield, where it shattered on impact and released the butterfly within. Ladybug released her end of the rope to capture it and purify it.

Carapace relaxed slightly as the boy when more limp in his arms as his Akuma form was stripped away from him. He carefully pulled the skipping rope away before throwing it to Ladybug And pointing upwards. The boys father was still up there after all.

"Miraculous Ladybug!"

There wasn't nearly as many magical Ladybugs as before, given the lack of damage, but Nino knew he would never tire of seeing them swarm the area.

"Jason!" And there was the boys father, Nino released the boy and both of them collided into each other in a hug. He couldn't help but smile at the sight. What had he been thinking when he was groaning about the adults earlier?

The ringing of their miraculous brought him out of his trance and he turned to Ladybug as she began to hover slightly. "Not to charm and dash but I've gotta go."

" Bug wait! " He reached out and grabbed her wrost, stopping her from flying away for just a moment. "We need to talk."

Oblivious to Ladybugs face growing darker he looked to the father son duo as she began to talk. "Now's not a good time Cara, our timers."

" I know," as if to punctuate her point their miraculous beeped again. "Eiffle tower, Tonight, ten thirty, yeah?"

Carapace was so caught up in organizing what he was going to say that he missed Ladybugs dreamy sigh. " Yeah... ok... " Snapping out of it Ladybug shook her head. "I mean, yeah sure, Ten thirty, not a second late."

Nodding Nino let her go, watching as she fluttered away, chuckling as she looped in the air. Flashing the duo a peace sign he made his own quick exit.

* * *

Adrien's birthday might have been a bust but he had learned several important things today and Ladybug needed to know about them.

Which is why he found himself waiting on the top of the Eiffel tower, far above where anyone else could even reach. He didn't mind the height, despite how it was a little difficult to actually get up there for him but they needed the privacy.

Especially since what he was going to talk about was not something he wanted any civilian to hear. Lest he cause a little bit of a panic.

He was a little nervous about bringing it up to Ladybug, given that the Akuma was originally after him and he couldn't quite say that without worrying Ladybug and/or revealing who he was. Both of those things were bad in their own right.

The heavy thump of feet hitting metal caused him to spin around, meeting Ladybugs eyes with a nod. "Sorry I'm a little late, didn't want to get caught sneaking out."

Nino chuckled as he shook his head. " Oh, I know that feeling. The paranoia that you're being watched, your heart racing like it's beating its last. I know it well. "

"Sneak out a lot then?" Nino couldn't quite place the look that was in her eyes but he got the impression that she was... Impressed? Or maybe evaluating something about him.

"Not a lot, but sometimes I just needed some air and a walk around, you know?"

She shrugged, her wings fluttering behind her, despite being on the ground. "I guess, sometimes I need new stimuli to be able to work on some of my projects. "

He nodded and the two fell into a sort of awkward silence, he offered with his hands, finger brushing over his miraculous as Ladybug swayed side to side slightly.

"So?..."

"I learned something today, a few things actually." Slowly Nino moved to the centre beam that stuck up the middle, before hitting his back against it and skidding down till he was sat down.

"We're not immune to the Akuma's bug. " Unknown to him, his words had ripped Ladybug out of her hypothetical daydream of Carapace confessing to her atop the tower.

Thoughts on having a hamster on hold she moved closer before kneeling down in front of him. "What do you mean? "

"Earlier, with the akuma," when he got a nod from her he continued. "The boy, he wasn't the original target for the Akuma." Seeing Ladybug about to open her mouth he held up his hand to signal that he wished to finish .

"There was this other boy, had these sick headphones styled after me, he was upset..." He completely missed the way how Ladybugs eyes widened in surprise, he had not way of knowing that she knew his civilian self. "Or mad, I dunno. "

"Point is, it went for him and he threw... Whatever the item was and it absorbed the Akuma but didn't turn him." He took a breath in as he pulled one of his knees closer. " The boy picked it up, became the Akuma. "

"Oh..." Ladybugs eyes darted around for a moment before she moved and sat next to him, their shoulders touching. "So we can trap Akuma's?"

" As long as no-one touches the item and we somehow get you there to purify it quickly. "

"Ok?..." Ladybug twisted her hand in a Thoughtful manner. " So, how does all that connect to us not being immune? "

"I made an offhand comment to Wayzz, about being glad we were immune. He said we weren't, that Akuma can come for us and we need to be careful."

He shivered as he remembered how close that Akuma had come to him, never again. Noticing the far off look in ladybugs eyes he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and bumped their shoulders together.

His missed as her face began to go the same shade as her suit, hands shaking slightly from the surprise contact. "Don't worry about it too much Bug. Just ask your Kwami to help you find your happy place, that should do it."

" Yeah... ok... "

Despite it all, Marinette couldn't stop herself from looking at Carapace in slight awe. She leaned into his hold, glad to be able to take advantage of this moment, even if it wouldn't last.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nino: "are you sure I can't just go beat up Gabriel? Just once?"
> 
> Wayzz: "I'm sorry Nino but I can't allow it, save the beating up for Hawkmoth."
> 
> *In the Future*
> 
> Nino: "You should've let me do this sooner dude."
> 
> Wayzz: "Perhaps, but he may have also beaten us."
> 
> Nino's jacket is based off of this:  
> https://www.beautifulhalo.com/mens-sportive-short-sleeve-drawstring-hood-plain-zipper-hoodie-p-391068.html?curSize=L&showColor=Black¤cy1=GBP&track=PA_G_SGB321&gclid=Cj0KCQjwtLT1BRD9ARIsAMH3BtVRWksDwu7MtVPWkP0jfFC_560EYyBcuRh62ZosPrqfGqSqNnwajDsaAqahEALw_wcB
> 
> You just have to imagine it in the details given to it, there are no real references for me to give.
> 
> Ladybug redesign by lunian on Tumblr here: https://lunian.tumblr.com/post/187946955609/me-my-salty-ass-who-is-asking-for-justice-for


	5. Dark Cupid

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette had decided, it's no longer called Valentine's day... It's called 'failing to confess your love day' and she hates it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Given how very copy paste this story feels, I find it important to create original content for it, so I am taking chapter suggestions on my Tumblr and you can ask me questions about any episode to learn what's going to happen to them for this AU.
> 
> My Tumblr: https://spartanxhunterx.tumblr.com
> 
> I would love nothing more then to interact with you guys.

Fingers tapping against his pencil Nino keep his eyes forwards, doing his best to not look like he wasn't paying attention. It would do no good to be caught now, not when class would end soon.

Adrien was being a lot more ballsy, his head was down and he was actively writing and he could tell it was not related to class. It was a Valentine's poem, he could tell by the way he kept crossing out parts.

Valentine's day. That was today. He had ignored it originally, hoping the day would pass, but now it was here and he was stressing. Today was _The_ day he could confess to Marinette and... He didn't feel ready.

Far from it.

He wished for nothing more then to turn around and look at her, see what she was doing but he couldn't, not when he was at the front of class and she was behind him. Too obvious, Too noticeable. It was one of the reasons why he had liked sitting at the back of the class, and sure, Mrs. Bustier had to reprimand him a few times about not getting his work done but he still felt cheated out of not being able to see Marinette.

" Marinette, Adrien, I hope what you're writing has to do with my lesson. " That snapped Nino out of his thoughts, and given that the attention was on those two he half turned so he had both of them in his view.

Marinette would never stop looking so breathtaking. Even now, as she looked slightly afraid and was trying to slyly stuff a bit of paper into her workbook.

"That's why in most fairy tales, the prince breaks the spell by kissing the princess because only love conquers hate." Nino blinked as he looked back to Adrien. How had he known that? Surely Adrien didn't have that much awareness... Did he?

Mrs. Bustier smiled at him giving a nod. "Very good Adrien," The schools bell tolled, signalling the end of the day. "Now, everyone, don't forget to finish _Sleeping Beauty_ by Charles Perrault tonight, and happy Valentine's day, students!"

Nino didn't want to stick around for anything, he just wanted today to end as fast as possible, pretend it never happened.

Back in the classroom Alya looked at Marinette as she finished packing up and peered down at Adrien, who looked a little defeated over whatever he was writing. Getting Marinette's attention with hand movements she gestured to Adrien.

Marinette looked confused at her and simply tilted her head with a raised eyebrow. Alya increased her movements for a moment until she just lowered them before pinching the bridge of her nose.

Marinette walked down the stairs. "Have a good day Adrien." The boy gave a non committed hum in acknowledgment at her as she walked out, before sighing in frustration, screwing up his paper and throwing it away in the trash can as he walked out.

Alya knew, knew, that if she didn't act then there was no way her bestie would be able to confess her feelings for Adrien if she never made a move to begin with.

What was the point in admitting that you loved someone if you kept denying it? Cause Marinette had told her about her crush on Adrien after one too many times she had been caught daydreaming in class. No doubt on the blonde haired boy himself, yet, anytime she brought it up Marinette denied it and avoided talking about her _real_ crush.

Alya could hear Adrien talking to Chloé, something about hamsters, whatever, she didn't care. She waited until it sounded like they where gone before she moved over to the bin, pulling out the one she thought had been Adrien's she unfurled it.

It was most certainly his handwriting. Her eyes scanned over the words, with each line her eyes widened bit by bit.

"Holy... MARINETTE!"

* * *

Nino wasn't sure what had caused it but he found himself walking down the road from school next to Alix. Probably the least enthusiastic person about Valentine's day.

Now they weren't as great of friends as he and Kim, but Kim hung around with her and Max and so he had a fair enough friendship with them for them to know something about each other, aside from the obvious things.

"So... Whats got you all worked up?" He flinched slightly at her... Abrupt attempt to start a conversation.

"W-what do you mean?" He did his best to not stutter, really he did, he scratched at the back of his neck as he looked away. Seeing all of the couple's walking together or the single people holding roses and such items.

How nice would it be to be that organized?

"That." Alix pointed at him. " The stutter, scratching, avoiding eye contact. " Alix stepped around a few people before coming back to nudge his shoulder. "All sign of you being nervous."

Knowing she had hit the nail right on the head, Nino didn't say anything. What was there to say?

"It's Marinette isn't it?"

Nino choked on his breath for a moment before recovering, walking slightly faster to not let the short pink haired skater see his growing blush.

"Oh wow. I was right." He could still hear Alix right behind him but he supposed that wasn't surprising, as she did a lot more exercising then him.

Well... Before he became Carapace.

"I'd say I understand, but I don't, so all I'm gonna say is... Go for it?" He could hear her confusion, imagine the way her eyebrows crossed down as she spoke.

He snorted at her words, not harshly, just disbelieving. How could Marinette, the nicest girl he had ever met, ever choose to go on a date with him? "I thought you hated Valentines?"

"No? Annoyed yeah, cause... I don't get it." He could hear her jog to catch up to him with her shorter legs. " And don't change the subject, just go tell her... Not like it could be worse then Kim confessing to Chloé. "

"What!" Quick as anything he Stopped walking, spinning on one foot to face Alix. He moved so fast that she didn't have enough time to stop and collided with his chest and bounced off of him.

Grabbing her shoulders he stabilized her. "Kim's trying to confess to Chloé?" Seeing her nod he groaned. "And you let him? This is bad. Kim can hardly deal with people not being friendly with him but to be turned down, and Chloé will, harshly might I add, it'll crush him."

" Hey! Max is the one helping him. Not me. " Shaking his head Nino stepped around her before he started walking back in a fast pace. "Where are you going!?"

" To help him! " He shouted back before he started to run, he hoped he could reach Kim before he did something stupid.

* * *

"Marinette! Slow down." Alya struggled to write in the heart shaped card, she had already written down her own poem towards Adrien for Marinette, she just had to sign it with Mari's name then it would be done.

which would be a lot easier if Marinette wasn't dragging her to the post box already. The biracial girl was already busy with trying to hold two heart shaped candy apples and some post her parents asked her to put in the post box while also keeping one hand held onto her as she dragged her with her.

Marinette stopped for a moment and Alya let out a breath, finally she could sign the damn poem and possibly get the Adrienette ship started.

Or she would have, had Marinette not swapped the poem in her hand for the two candy apples in the blink of an eye. "Woah girl! Hold up!" It was too late unfortunately, as she had already pushed all of the post into the box.

"What's wrong Alya?" Oh, she couldn't stay mad at her bestie for long and just slumped forwards slightly.

"I didn't sign the poem." The look of regret was enough to make Alya regret being the cause of it. "It was going to be perfect, Adrien was going to read it then he was totally going to fall for you and..."

" Whoa, Whoa, Whoa, " Marinette waved her hands around wildly, interrupting Alya mid-speech. "Adrien?" The girls eyes darted around in thought before realization set and she groaned. "Alya!" She whined.

"I've told you I'm not crushing on Adrien. Ok? There was no need to try to play matchmaker between us."

Alya just shook her head before putting a hand on her hip. " ok then, who is your crush then? Cause you got one. "

At the thought of her green wearing superhero partner she could feel the blush grow on her face but she refused to admit that she was crushing on him. Her tall, broad shouldered, gentle eyed partner.

Was she drooling?

"That's what I thought girl," Alya wrapped her arms around her shoulders. "I get it, you're too afraid to admit your crush on Mr. Model so what? A lot of people can't."

Well, she understood that, given the gathering of girls she saw outside of schools, all of whom were looking at one of his newest posters. Marinette understood that Adrien was, admittedly, good looking but she didn't feel anything for him beyond friendship.

There was a faint sound of splitting air before something hit Alya in the chest, the girl stumbled away as Marinette spun around to look up from where it had come from.

She could see the red and black winged Akuma soaring way above them and for a moment she thought they would shoot her too. Yet, they turned turned and flew away.

quickly spinning back round to Alya she was ready to get her best girl friend away but stopped at the cruel look and black lips that had graced her face. "Alya... You alright?"

She was entirely unprepared for Alya to shove the two, sticky, candy apples to her chest before cackling on her face. "Look at you! Acting all concerned, like we're actual friends. Pathetic, you don't even have the guts to admit you have a crush." The auburn haired girl ran away cackling and Marinette could only state in confusion.

as hurt as she was she wasn't going to dwell on it for long, there was an Akuma loose. She ripped the apples off her clothes before throwing them to the floor as she sprinted to the closest alleyway.

She popped open her purse and Tikki's head popped out. "Come on, we got an Akuma to deal with. Tikki, Spots On!"

* * *

Flying had become a natural thing to her, swerving left and right between buildings and even just being well above everything have her a level of freedom that she didn't realise once could possess.

all in all, she had believed that, in an odd sense, that the sky's of paris had belonged to her. So seeing an Akuma that could fly definitely made her feel... Threatened. That wasn't even to mention that Carapace would be at a disadvantage against Kim.

And to think this had been because she had convinced him to chase after his mystery girl. How was she supposed to have known it would be Chloé, Chloé of all people who Kim knew didn't get on well with her.

But that was a conversation between Marinette and Kim, right now was for Ladybug And Dark Cupid to settle things out.

watching Kim land on a Rooftop she wasn't too surprised to see him trying to take a shot at her. Trying being the key word as she knocked his bow just a second before he fired, the misplaced shot had impacted between all of the people down on the floor and in the corner of her eye she saw them scrambling. "Stop, Kim!"

 **"** I'm not Kim," He turned to point his bow at her and she began to spin her yo-yo in front of her. "I'm Dark Cupid! I'll never stop! If I can't have love, then no one can!"

She was defiantly having words with him later. "Okay, Dark Cupid, I get it. Chloé totally burned you. But that doesn't mean you have to take it out on all of Paris. "

"Of course I do! If I can't have love, why should anybody else?" He fired an arrow at her and it swiftly disintegrated against her Yo-Yo.

Taking advantage of us moment she dropped down to the roof tiles before jumping up to kick off of the chimney, fist reared back to deliver a swift punch.

With one powerful beat of his wings, Dark Cupid was far off the roof before she could reach him and she went sailing over the rooftop due to her momentum. Her wings kicked in before she began to fall and she hovered in place, legs bent slightly in preparation to fly off.

She spun to intercept the arrow with her tool before she tucked her legs up, back arching to allow her wings to fly her towards Kim from where he was flying above her.

She spun out of the way of an incoming shot before she managed to close the distance between them. flipping over him She grabbed hold of the tip of his wings, pulling them up and began to drag him back with her, his full weight was caught in her hands as his body dropped from the inability to fly and she hoped she wasn't causing any real pain by doing this.

"Get off!" He thrashed for a moment before reaching into his quiver, pulled one of his arrows from and tried to jab it into her leg.

She's was lucky enough to see it coming and released him before kicking off his back, her wings fluttering to assist her in her midair backflip.

Kim dropped a few feet before his own wings kicked in, he propelled himself away, body spinning rapidly before curving upwards. At the apex of his height he drew back an arrow and shot it towards Ladybug.

For a fleeting moment Ladybug believed that she would be at the complete mercy of the arrow, she wasn't sure the full extent of what it could do beyond making people hate other people but she really didn't want to find out.

The whizzing of air caught her ear and a green blur shot up between her and the arrow, said arrow exploding upon impact. Leaving nothing but black smoke before dissipating.

Both Akuma and superheroine looked down below them, Ladybug let a smile grow on her face as seeing Carapace so far below them, her wings fluttered faster and she had to resist to not do a loop right there in the air.

"Stay out of this you stupid turtle!" That snapped her out of it, her legs tucked up and she brought her hands to her hips as she curved to allow herself to fly forwards, right at Kim. "Hawkmoth doesn't care abou-urk!"

He sputtered as Ladybug landed a heafty kick to his sternum, she didn't let up, whipping out her Yo-Yo she wrapped it around his ankle before she tugged hard, flying higher, dragging him out of his flight before she spun him around and flinging him to the ground.

Dark Cupid tried to right himself with his wings but only found himself face to face with a mean looking Ladybug before he received a hard punch to the face. His body fell the last few feet down to the ground.

Performing a rolling flip Ladybug slide landed on the pavement below, just I front of Carapace. The green clad hero raised his hand to catch his shield as it returned to him.

"He is not stupid." There was conviction and power behind her voice and she felt herself stand to full height as her shoulders squared. "He's my partner, best I could ever ask for."

"Ugh..." The Akuma groaned out as he stood up from the cracked pavement, Hawkmoths symbol was over his eyes as he shook his head. " I hate this lovey dovey nonsense. "

Shaking himself off he reach one hand back to grab an arrow. "And once I'm done with you!" He knocked the arrow, aiming it at Ladybug as Carapace moved in front of her with his Shield raised. "Those feelings will be no more!"

He released the draw string, the arrow flew through the air for a second before breaking apart on Carapace's shield. Leaping forwards Ladybug threw her Yo-yo out, the tool skimming past his head before he took off into the sky again, spinning as he drew yet another arrow.

With a twitch of his fingers it was released into the air, Ladybug spun to dodge, hearing it impact something before hearing a sharp gasp come from behind her.

Seeing Kim begin to fly away she turned back to her partner, seeing him clutching his stomach while on one knee. She could see his lips going the same dark black colour as Alya's lips had early. "Carapace!" She dropped down to her knee, hands resting on his shoulders. "Don't listen to it, fight it. "

"Bug... I... I..."

Grabbing hold of his chin Ladybug turned his head to face her. "It's alright, you can fight it, your strong and I known you can beat him."

He hands came up, fingers wrapped around her wrists gently and he stood up. At first she was smiling, ready to go off with him to fight Dark Cupid, then she noticed the differences in his behavior. He was more stoic, shoulders more taunt and stiff, eyes lacking the same level of emotion that she had been used to seeing. Lips blacker than Black, she tried to pull her hands away but he kept a strong grip on her.

"You talk about me being strong but I think you fail to realise how you pale in comparison to me." Marinette flinched slightly from him, his eyes just... Didn't look right, too angry, too harsh. "You who failed to be a success the first time around, caused more problems then you solved, I'm always watching your back to make sure you don't mess up again."

She could feel her heart breaking, old insecurities coming up again. The idea of being a failure and a fraud hitting her like a hammer to the chest.

But _this_ wasn't Carapace, no this was Dark Cupid's influence. "I'm sorry Cara." Her wings fluttered and she launched herself up, delivering a hard kick to his chin before flipping back down to the ground, landing on her knees as Carapace stumbled back.

Her wings flared out, twitching with need, she let them take her off the ground and in the air. She couldn't leave Carapace at Dark Cupid's mercy, just in case he could force him to give up his miraculous freely.

"Well, if you're so much better then me, then prove it! Come get me!" She was sure Chloé would be fine, Protecting Carapace's miraculous was more important. He did it for her before, it was time to return the favor.

* * *

Chloé and Sabrina were both hiding behind one of the tables inside the hotel, eyes watching the door in case the Akuma came after them again.

The twang of a string made them flinch and Sabrina cried out in alarm as one of dark Cupid's arrows struck her in the chest, her lips turning a deep black.

Chloé scrambled to get away, keeping her eyes on Sabrina as she was running. She collided with something, falling back into her butt she looked up to see the Akuma in front of her. Her eyes fell into to the very familiar Pin as Kim drew back his bow.

The arrow exploded against her chest and she was sure her lips had gone black too and... She didn't feel any different. "Huh?" She looked at her hands, she was still in control of herself. "What did you even do?"

Kim laughed at her, almost mockingly. "I destroyed every last ounce of love that was in you. Your friends, family and even yourself, you hate it all."

" I don't feel any different. " Kim's posture shifted to confused as he watched Chloé stand, one hand on her hip and demeanor exactly as it had been previously.

"Do-" he hesitated, fingers pulling on his bow string. "Do you hate yourself naturally?"

* * *

Ducking under a swing Ladybug spun her way around her partner, using his slightly slower form to her advantage.

"That's enough Cara!" Their hands collided together, both trying to wrestle the other to the ground. Unfortunately, where she had advantages, so did Carapace. She could feel her hands beginning to move away, being forced by Carapace to be pulled away from herself. Kicking off the ground she flipped over him and used his grip against him, sending him over he shoulder and off the edge of the rooftop they had been on top of.

"I'm never gonna hear the end of that." Jumping down to street level she ducked under Carapace's thrown shield before sending out her Yo-Yo to strike him in the gutt.

To her surprise he managed to catch it in his open hand, her eyes widened in surprise and she reflexively began to pull on the string. Carapace began to wrap the wire around his arm, slowly bringing the two of them together as the words length grew shorter.

"See, you're nothing!" She's flinched at his words, his aggression and... And hate. "Can't even fight without me." She could see the look in his eyes, anger and hate, aggression and frustration. It looked like it was overwhelming him.

"Why do you allow yourself to be consumed by hate?" She had to try to break through to him, make him see reason, there was barely a meter distance between them now, just a few more steps and they'd be chest to chest.

"Because hate overpowers all." He pulled hard on the string, bringing them face to face. One of Ladybugs hands was keeping the string tight, stopping Carapace's wrapped arm from moving. Their other free arms grappled until Ladybug had good of his collar and he had her wrist.

"You're wrong hate doesn't conquer..." Her eyes widened as she remembered what they had been talking about in class. "Love does." She spoke softly, eyes darting to his blackened lips as she leaned in slightly.

"What? " He leaned back slightly, his hood hiding more of his face in shadows and it only made him look more roguish, mysterious. "What are you doing?"

Despite his attempts to pull her arm away she pulled their faces closer, a blush running up her cheeks as they got so, so close. "Something..." She licked her lips, breath going shallow. "I've..." So close, a little more. "Wanted to do for..." Her eyes focused on his goggles, seeing the reflection of Dark Cupid in them.

Kicking back into high gear she spun them around, the arrow hitting Carapace in the back, yet making no changes.

Her eyes narrowed up at the Akuma. _Jerk_.

Relaxing her yo-yo's string she pulled it off Carapace's arm, delivering a strong kick to his chest she sent him down on his butt before using the momentum to flutter up into the air.

She'd had enough of this. It was time to end it.

Sharply flying upwards she dodge another arrow. "Lucky charm!" The ladybUgs swirled around until they form and down came a... "Candy apple? How's this supposed to help? "

Looking around her she surveyed the area, the fountain, Carapace, Dark Cupid, his bow, the apple. Breathing in she focused, it was won or lose right now.

diving down she spun her Yo-yo one hand, she flipped over Carapace's shoulder, thing the wire around his torso, arm trapped to his side. Her feet hit the floor and she threw the apple at Dark Cupid, where it stuck to his head.

She didn't have a lot of time, quickly flying back up she dragged Carapace with her, pulling him up until she was holding him by his collar.

Throwing away the sweet apple, Dark Cupid growled before pulling back the bow, aim locked in Ladybugs exposed back. His fingers twitched to release the arrow and much to his surprise the string stayed stuck to him. "What! No!" Spotting the fountain he flew down to it.

Up in the air Ladybug wished she could stay like this, wished she could stare into those eyes forever. There was no time for that, despite his attempts to pull away she leaned on and locked their lips together, it was... Warm and awkward.

What with his goggles pressing into her face and all that.

Pulling back she could see the black on his lips recede, his eyes came into focus and brimmed with life and emotion. "Ugh... Bug?"

" No time to explain! " Using her Yo-Yo she spun him around until she launched him at Kim. "The broach on his chest, now!"

His didn't allow himself to think, he just acted, he put his arms forwards, catching Kim by the shoulders sending the two of them sliding across the floor before he pushed the taller boy down. Pulling the pin off his chest he flicked it behind him.

"Ladybug!" She caught it in midair before she examined it.

" Is this for me? What a lovely gift. " she dropped it before crushing it underfoot. She put her hand in front of her mouth in mock disbelief. "Oop's."

Quickly catching and purifying the Akuma before it could escape she relaxed as he let her cure rush over the city.

Nino helped a confused Kim to stand before walking over to his partner. "Pound it!" Then came the ringing of her miraculous, she waved goodbye as she flew away and he was a little confused as to Why her face was beet red.

picking up the broach he handed it back to Kim. "Be more careful dude, you've got a sensitive heart. " He elbowed him in the ribs, much like he would as Nino. "Try to go for someone a little... sweeter, next time yeah? "

"I guess, I just thought... I really thought... Nevermind." Hands wrapping around the broach Kim curled in on himself.

"Hey." He wrapped his arm around Kims shoulders. "Love Hurts, try pining for someone for over a year and not have the courage to even admit it to them."

He snorted. "Sucks to be you I guess. "

"Gee, Thanks." Removing himself from his childhood guy friend Nino made a few steps away from him. " Anyway, got Places to go, superhero stuff to do, you know How it is. "

"I guess."

Nino shook his head in mirth body he jumped up the side of a building , having to scale up most of it since he couldn't jump as high as his more mobile partner.

looking back down he could see Marinette running after Kim. He laughed as Kim began to run away from their smaller friend, still... She could be scary when she was mad.

* * *

Shifting through all of his mail Adrien sighed in disappointment, it wasn't any different then the previous years, Lots and Lots of mail from fans.

People who loved his face and looks and status, not that he was judging them. No. That would be rude.

truthfully he was hoping to receive mail from a specific someone and it didn't look like it was going to happen.

Picking up a loose heart shaped card he opened it, eyes reading the words half heartedly until he re-read it... It, it was an answer to _the_ poem he had thrown out earlier... How?

His eyes darted for a name, hoping and praying. Nothing. No name, No signature. He'd hoped to be lucky. 

he was about to write it off as a coincidence and a fluke, then he caught sight of the little Ladybug insect that had flown onto the paper.

Carefully scooping it up he let it crawl over his finger until it flew off and out his open window. He stared after it wistfully.

"Love you too Ladybug. "

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Holding a spade* "Oh don't mind me, just planting some seeds" 👀
> 
> Nino's jacket is based off of this:  
> https://www.beautifulhalo.com/mens-sportive-short-sleeve-drawstring-hood-plain-zipper-hoodie-p-391068.html?curSize=L&showColor=Black¤cy1=GBP&track=PA_G_SGB321&gclid=Cj0KCQjwtLT1BRD9ARIsAMH3BtVRWksDwu7MtVPWkP0jfFC_560EYyBcuRh62ZosPrqfGqSqNnwajDsaAqahEALw_wcB
> 
> You just have to imagine it in the details given to it in chapter two, there are no real references for me to give.
> 
> Ladybug redesign by lunian on Tumblr here: https://lunian.tumblr.com/post/187946955609/me-my-salty-ass-who-is-asking-for-justice-for


	6. Late Night Run

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the silence of night, Nino simply can't sleep and has things on his mind. Good thing he's got all of Paris to run around and a partner to speak to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My Tumblr: https://spartanxhunterx.tumblr.com

Nino's fingers clicked away at his mouse and keyboard, headphones perched atop his head as he listened to one of his soundtracks while he was organising other soundtracks and mixes on his computer.

It was late, very late, judging by the moonlight that was leaking its way between the curtains, attempting to illuminate the areas in which his computer screen could not.

Despite the time, he wasn't tired.

No, he was anxious, nervous. His mind was running a hundred miles and hour. Thought after thought racked through his brain, repeating what memories he had of the fight with Dark Cupid, with Kim, and lady Wi-Fi.

Valentine's day had been just a few days ago, while it had been quiet since then, he couldn't help but feel like he was missing something. Ladybug had told him what had happened of course, how could she not?

He, Carapace, had fallen victim to an Akuma's power and had been turned against Ladybug, his partner. Pushing his glasses up Nino pinched the bridge of his nose, knuckles pressing into his eyes slightly, before sighing and collapsing back in his chair.

Wayzz would probably point out that he had fallen prey to Lady Wi-Fi too but that was different in it's own way. When it came to Alya's akumatization he wasn't under her control, just... Stuck and he had been protecting Ladybug unlike with Dark Cupid where he had gone against her.

He was her protector, Not her assailant.

How much harder had he made that Akuma? How many innocent people got hurt because Ladybug was dealing with him? How badly could it have ended if Ladybug hadn't found some way to free him from the Akuma?

He was greatful for whatever she did, even if that was the one detail she wouldn't tell him. But he didn't _want_ to put her in that situation ever again, had to fight _by_ her side... Always.

Sitting up properly Nino reached out to pull his Mug of Tea towards him, bringing it up to his lips slowly to savour the taste.

Ever since he had almost been akumatised Wayzz had suggested he take up several calming routines. Breathing exercises were one such thing, Meditation another and even calming herbal teas like Chamomile and lavender.

Although he had only used them once since getting them, tonight being the second, he could tell how useful they were. They helped him to relax his muscles and the warmth in his stomach was quite welcome.

But tea could only help so much to ease his nerves, he needed something else to take his mind off it all. Something to drain his excess energy without possibly waking everyone up.

But it's not like he could just begin doing push ups on his floor now could he?

Sighing he put his Mug back down, setting it near Wayzz, Who was taking his time to eat through the bowl of chopped fruit as he relaxed near him.

"Something on your mind?... Dude?" Nino snorted humorously at Wayzz' attempt to use modern slang as he removed his headphones. Not that he did it badly, just that he sounded so uncertain of himself that It was almost comical.

"Well... Sort of little dude." He gently rubbed Wayzz' head, being mindful of his antenna. "Just... Dark Cupid, or at least the thought that I could have made that a lot worse then it was."But

" But you didn't, Ladybug fixed it all in the end. "

He sighed, moving his fingers to rest on Wayzz' shell. "It's not that simple Dude. What if Ladybug hadn't won? hadn't fixed me? What if I took her miraculous?" He waited a moment for Wayzz to answer but only saw his calculating face, he could see the gears turn in his head.

"We would have lost Little dude. Simple as that, Hawkmoth cares far more for Ladybugs miraculous then mine... Your miraculous." Nino's fingers fiddled with the bracelet around his wrist, even in his PJ's with the other bands taken off he couldn't bear to part with the Miraculous.

It's weight was comforting in its own weird way.

"Indeed, but for what reason is... Unfathomable," Wayzz floated up before plopping himself down on Nino's shoulder. "What's important is we keep up the fight and protect Ladybug, so he may never get the Miraculous."

" Which isn't easy when I'm mind controlled Wayzz." He deadpanned, tired of beating around the bush. Wayzz' face contorted then he tilted his head to the side in thought.

"I see... Perhaps this is a conversation to have with Ladybug then?"

Yeah, he could. If he knew how to get hold of her outside of Akuma attacks. His best bet was to wait for the next attack, then ask her if she was free to talk. Although it worked last time, he figured that was because it was an urgent matter, over now which was just a few small worries.

"So, are we going?" Nino blinked, looking up at Wayzz.

"What?"

" If you wish, we can go out now, try to find Ladybug so you can speak to her. " Shaking his head Nino stood from his chair stretching before reaching for his Mug again.

"I doubt she'll just _be_ out there, we both have civilian lives, besides its..." Looking at the time on his screen he let in a sharp breath between his teeth. "Well eleven forty seven, she's probably asleep." He took a sip of his tea, trying to prolong the conversation.

" Plausibly but you are not, even if you don't find her, a nice run will do some good for you. " Well, Nino couldn't argue with that logic, he rubbed the back of his neck in thought.

It wouldn't hurt to go on a run, exhaust himself enough to maybe get a few hours of sleep before school started. Maybe give him a reason to go to The Dupain-Cheng bakery for a coffee and breakfast, not that he needs a reason to go.

"I... Alright, wait here a second."

Wayzz watched as his chosen left the room, picking up a cut up grape he took a bite before chewing on it. The small Kwami could see the lights outside the room turn on from where it peaked in from under the door. He only had to wait a few minutes before his chosen returned, a steaming hot thermos in hand.

probably filled with more tea. He floated up as Nino shut the door. "Ready to go?" Shaking his head Nino motioned for him to wait before checking his curtains to ensure no-one could peak in.

Flicking his light on he placed his thermos down. "Alright, now I'm ready."

" Then say the magic words. "

"Wayzz, Shell On."

Feeling the magic wash over him Nino brought in a deep breath, relaxing as he felt his heart rate increase in preparation for a fight. He hoped that his light had covered the flash of light from his transformation, he didn't want to be caught out by something as stupid as that.

Flicking his light back off he picked up his thermos and switched his computer to sleep mode. Peaking out his curtains he surveyed the windows and balconies of the other house's as he attached his thermos to his hip, just in case there were other late nighters about.

Feeling satisfied that he couldn't see anything he opened his window wide enough to climb his way out of it. Standing on the ledge precariously he leaped to the close by Lamppost, catching onto the pole before climbing up to the top.

his boots left behind scruff marks that blended in with the others he had been leaving there. Kneeling down atop the post he scanned the road below, seeing it bare and empty. It was strange, to see Paris' streets so abandoned yet know that the city still held life inside its many many buildings.

Tensing his legs he prepared himself before committing to jump to the closest by Lamppost, a jump which he could just barely make on his own. He didn't slow down as he continued his movements by jumping to the closest rooftop, hitting it a little hard.

Bleeding speed by transitioning into a roll he came to a stop, he gave the area another look around before setting off on his run.

his feet pounded against the solid concrete of the buildings, the wind whipped his hood slightly and the cool night air burned at his lungs.

He didn't pay too much attention to where he was going, he just let his feet take him to whichever part of Paris they so desired to travel to.

There was something about traveling this way that was... Uniquely satisfying, he couldn't put his finger on it but he knew there would be little that could compare to running across Paris' skyline Keith nothing but the wind to accompany him.

It wasn't the feeling of freedom, more... The knowledge that he had a higher role in this city. He was one of the city's only two defenders, it was a large amount of responsibility. And he was honoured to hold that responsibility, out of everyone in the entire city it was him, he was chosen to be Carapace.

Now that he knew what that was like... He couldn't imagine not being Carapace, he couldn't imagine not having the power to protect people.

Stopping on a slightly isolated rooftop he moved to the edge, leaning against the billboard as he looked down to the street below. Still the task before him was massive and he was only one person, so he knew he had to be careful.

There was little room for mistakes in all of this.

If Ladybug lost her miraculous, they would lose, no more cure, no more purifying Akuma's. If he lost his... Then he wouldn't be able to defend Ladybug, Paris or even his family.

Whoever gave him the miraculous would probably give someone else a different one... Assuming that there was both more miraculous and someone who had them.

but Nino refused to believe that someone hadn't put the box in his house on the first day of school.

"I think I'm seeing smoke." His arm slipped from where he was leaning, hands grasping at the beams of the billboard before he felt more slender hands grab his arm and pull him back onto the roofs surface.

Turning around he came face to face with Ladybug, who looked both worried and slightly amused. Mostly worried though. "Damn Bug. Give a guy a warning would you."

He chuckled slightly as he pretended to dust himself off, doing his best to not look at his partner. He did not want her to see his face all red from embarrassment.

"I am glad you're here though." Moving over to a large air conditioning unit he hoisted himself up and say on it. "Although, how'd you know I was here?"

" Well... I... Ugh, I saw you? "

Raising an eyebrow he looked her over, seeing how her shoulders were tense, her ankles close together and arms folded defensively in front of her. As if she was trying to make herself smaller then she already was.

He bit back the mocking remark he could have said about her already short stature before nodding thoughtfully.

"I guess that makes sense, I wasn't exactly trying to hide." And he wasn't but he was under the assumption that no-one would be in the right place at the right time to see him. But if someone had to see him?

well he was glad it was her.

"So," She swayed slightly from foot to foot and Nino realised that this was one of those rare occasions where Ladybug wasn't always flying. "Did you have something to say?... Or?"

"Hmm..." He looked up from where he was pulled his thermos off his side before realization dawned on his face. "Oh right, yeah. I wanted to ask you a few things." Tapping the space next to him he waited for her to join him.

after a moment of hesitation did she do so and the two of them looked over the Paris skylines.

"I wanted to talk about valentines day," he chose to ignore her flinch , he didn't want to think of the implications of that. "Cause it got me thinking. If an Akuma can mind control me once, it possible it could happen again."

Pouring his tea into the thermos lid he held it up for a moment before deciding to pass it to his partner.

Accepting the drink she hummed in thought. "Anything's possible, we don't even know what Hawkmoths limits are and all his Akuma are different."

Bringing the cup to her lips she took a sip before recoiling away. Carapace's free hand shot out to grab the wayward cup and although some of the tea split on the rooftop, at least the cup wasn't thrown.

"You alright bug? Is it too hot? Or are you lactose intolerant or something?"

"That's not coffee!" He blinked as Ladybug turned away from him in an attempt to hide her blush from him, his hand was still holding onto hers and she could feel the butterflies in her stomach.

Nino was quiet for all of a moment before a chortle escaped his lips, said chortle grew into a full blown laughter that only caused Ladybugs checks to darken to the same shade as her entire outfit.

"What's so funny!?" Smacking him on the shoulder seemed to bring him down to earth again.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, " Freeing the cup from her grip he took it back and refilled it before offering it again, which she took."I've just got this mental image in my head of you tweaked out on coffee, flying around sporadically and randomly all like a hummingbird."

He took a sip from his thermos before letting a large smile grace his face. "You remind me of my friend, amazing girl, a little small but if you give her coffee... Well, she's your responsibility after that."

"She get hyper or something?" He heard something in her voice but couldn't quite identify it.

" Normally she's good after her first coffee but after like the third, " he let out a low chuckle before taking a sip of his tea. "Well the last time that happened she challenged the resident jock to a race, she collapsed asleep halfway to the finish line."

Both winced in sympathy before they nursed their drinks a little more. Soaking in the silence of the night, it was so much more... Peaceful then the daytime, even with the slight ominous undertone that the night carried.

Leaning against his shoulder, Ladybug kept her eyes on her hands. He didn't flinch or shift away from her and after a moment his arm wrapped around her shoulders.

"What was it you wanted to talk to me about? before I interrupted you with the coffee thing."

He went to answer, he really did but one look at his partners bluebell eyes, seeing the worry in them, was enough to push the question to the back of his mind. To leave it there and ignore it, these where his problems, not his partners.

"You know what? I forgot." He'd deal with it... Alone.

Snuggling into his side a little more Ladybug let her head lean on him. Carapace himself decided to lay the two of them down into their back for more comfort.

after he removed his shield of course.

"You ever wonder why we were chosen?" Ladybugs words were filled with such curiosity that he found himself wondering the same thing.

what could he, Nino Lahiffe, done to possibly earn himself the responsibility to be one of Paris' Protectors, over the literal millions of other people.

Why wasn't an adult chosen? Why not someone more experienced at fighting? Why them?

_Why not them?_

"Constantly, But, I think... It because, deep down, we're good people. Willing to do the right thing, not for ourselves, but everyone else. "

Ladybug snorted and he felt like he was being mocked. "That was ridiculously cheesy, but probably true." She sighed, one of her arms moving to rest on his chest as she turned towards him slightly. "I couldn't imagine standing by and watching all this happen if I wasn't Ladybug. "

He couldn't imagine being a bystander either. Perhaps in another time, he wouldn't have a choice but right now? He didn't wish anyone else to be put in the danger the two of them faced.

"Same." He tightened his hold on Ladybug as her body shifted , just in case she fell. "I have your back, always. "

"I'll always have your back Too Carapace." She spoke slowly, lightly. As if something was dragging her voice down.

He blinked slowly a few times, unable to bring himself to talk just yet. They were fine.

The next time he blinked he was greeted to the peaking light of the sun over Paris' horizon. He breathed in the cold morning air, throat dry and limbs asleep.

His partner was curled up to his side.

He'd had fallen asleep, On top of a remote rooftop on nothing but his super suit and he knew he had nothing but PJ's on under that. And... Oh no, Ladybug might even be the same, if she popped out after seeing him pass whenever she lived.

"Well, Fuck."

* * *

Nino stumbling into the Dupain-Cheng bakery was not an uncommon occurrence for the Dupain-Cheng parents to witness, Sabine smiled sympathetically at the boy as she began to prepared his regular coffee order before he had even gotten halfway across the shop floor.

"Morning Mrs. Dupain-Cheng," He covered his mouth as he let out a yawn, half leaning against the counter as he tried to keep his head up.

"Oh dear Nino," Sabine shook her head slightly amused , "You look tired, you stay up on your computer again? "

Nino shrugged slightly as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Something like that... Can't remember much."

The older woman clicked her tongue as she finished putting Nino's coffee into a to-go cup. "Lack of sleep results in poor memory Nino," Sabine placed his coffee down before him and brought her hand to his cheek , a gesture that had become more common. "Get some sleep tonight. Even if you have to come here to get it, ok?"

Nino snorted humorously as his left hand raised to meet Sabine's. "I don't have a problem sleeping at home, I just g-" he let out another yawn. "Get distracted."

Sabine nodded as she pushed his coffee into his hands. "Of course, go sit down for a minute until Marinette comes down, I'll bring your order."

Nino blinked slightly, Sabine could see the gears turning in his head and had to stifle a laugh. "But I didn't..." He trailed off, unable to find the right words to say.

"No, you didn't, but we know what you like and you need to sit for a few minutes, besides, the schools just there." Giving his cheek a gentle tap Sabine moved away to begin bagging up two bags of pastries.

It took Nino's brain a moment to switch gears but once he did he moved to the closest table and sat down before folding his arms and leaning his head down onto them. Coffee momentarily ignored.

"You know, This place is very homely." He quietly hummed in agreement, even as Wayzz popped out of the side of his hood to peak at the rest of the bakery. "Its not very surprising that you fell for Marinette, she's the embodiment of all the sugar in here."

Nino tensed slightly at the voice at his ear, feeling heat pool into his cheeks. "Wayzz." He spoke in a low whisper, to not draw attention from anyone else.

"You say something Nino?" His knuckles tightened and he felt his nail bite into his palms. Fighting off the blush he raised his head before resting it on his closed hand, seeing Sabine next to him holding onto a bag, which she swiftly put down.

"Just... Groaning, I'm tired." He rubbed his eyes from under his glasses before pushing himself up. Feeling his back ache from the awkward place he had slept last night. Who knew you could fall asleep on a random roof but he supposed the tea was also a large benefactor to the position they found themselves in, in the morning.

"Drink up," She tapped his coffee cup. " if you're too tired to stay awake in school all day, come and have a nap during your lunch break."

"Will do Mrs. Dupain-Cheng. "

"Sabine dear. Now eat up, you won't have any energy for the day if you don't eat anything." Giving a hum he opened up the pastry bag to remove one of the blueberry muffins.

Slowly he munched on it, occasionally he would hold it slightly closer to his chest to allow Wayzz a chance to take a bite for himself. He really hoped he wasn't giving the guy a sweet tooth. He could handle Wayzz getting through several bowls of fruit a day, he doubted he could supply him with sweet treats all day everyday.

Especially since he had to cut back on his DJ gigs after an Akuma made him late for one of his scheduled gigs.

That had been a pain to explain. The chair in front of him groaned in protest and his eyes slowly lifted up to meet Marinette's. She looked, absolutely, dead to the world. There was nothing but tiredness and self hatred in those eyes.

"You stay up all night?" He drawled out before gulping back his coffee. Funny, he nurses teas but drinks coffee like his life depends on it.

"Sort ah..." Opening her mouth resulted in a large yawn to escape her. It was cute. "Had a few ideas come to mind and I just..." She's waved her hands sluggishly, her own cup of coffee sloshing around in her hand. "Had to draw them. "

"Please tell me you got a little sleep dudette." Reaching into the bag Nino pulled out a pistachio macaroon before taking a bite.

"Did you?" He was too tired to see the light pink that dusted her face as his eyes dropped to the table. Yes, he did get sleep.

But he got sleep on top of an air conditioning unit while dressed up as a turtle and hugging his superhero partner. That was not something he wanted to explain.

"Eh, some. Fell asleep on my keyboard, you know?"

"At least I was on something comfortable."

Flicking the small chunk of Macaroon he had in hand he watched as it flew between them before hitting Marinette dead centre of her forehead. She flinched in surprise, she squinted her eyes at the boy across from her as she brushed off the crumbs.

"Lahiffe."

"Dupain-Cheng."

The two of them stared each other down until Marinette let out a stiffened laugh. "You, you sound like Chloé."

" Ew, End me now. "

"I can go get a bag of flour if you like," She pointed over to behind the counter, but he was struggling to get the image of Marinette lifting heavy flour bags out of his head.

"If that's how I gotta go out, so be it." Wouldn't that be a way to go? Not by an Akuma or accident but by his crush, quite literally, crushing him.

Slowly Marinette pulled her own croissant out of her bag of food, never breaking eye contact with him as she bit down into it. The two of them sat there in a comfortable silence as they ate. If they where going to be late, Sabine would tell them.

It was now, in his barely awake state, that he realised how much more confident Marinette had become lately. Both in and out of school. No doubt it was caused by Alya, while he had no problem with it, he did wonder why Marinette had never let him and Kim deal with Chloé all those years ago.

Sure, Kim's view had been... Altered, over the years. As he had learned on Valentine's but back when Chloé started to be a brat they were more than willing to set her straight. Marinette, holder of his heart, had not wanted that. Had preferred peace. And here they were, Chloé as the class bully, Marinette just getting her confidence back, him barley able to stand up against someone when he wasn't in the suit.

Both of them were slowly unlearning such behaviours, ready to become the people they should have been so long ago. But they'd get there... Eventually.

* * *

"Mari..." He fiddled with his hands as they rested on the table, fingers intertwining. His head was slumped and he could barely keep his eyes open now that the coffee had passed out of his system.

Said girl hummed from behind him, her own coffee boost having bled out of her some time ago too.

"Is it... Is it too late to get that nap at your place?"

Class would end and lunch would begin soon, he was certain he wouldn't be able to make it the rest of the day without a little sleep. Mrs. Dupain-Cheng would make sure they weren't late and had lunch still.

it was one of the many reasons why he loved the Dupain-Cheng's.

"No such thing as, Too late for a nap, in my eyes." Marinette yawned into her hands and he had to fight off the blush at the image of her face scrunching up cutely. Like the way her nose would create up or her... OK, shaking his head he tried to ignore those thoughts.

The bell ringing hardly fazed them and both were stuck in there seats for a while longer. Long Enough that the two of them had to wave off Alya and Adrien respectively.

"So... You just wanna crash on the floor of the bakery or actually get to the sofa?"

Both huffed in tired amusement, her neither made a move to get up from there chairs. Too lethargic to even attempt to stand up, let alone get all the way to Mari's house.

"We having a sleep pile?" Nino jerked slightly at the voice that was right behind him, a quick peek showed Kim standing on the step above his tables level, looking down at the two of them. His bag was hanging off his back and he had a look of excitement in his eyes.

The sleep piles were something the three of them had done for so long, Nino couldn't remember a time when they didn't do it. It was simole, if two, or more, of them were tired they'd go to whoever's home was closest. Then collapse into a pile somewhere comfortable and just, sleep.

They'd done it since they were kids, they were going to keep doing it until they couldn't.

"Yes," Marinette yawned. "And if you help us get to mine... You can join too. "

"Yes!" Kim pumped his arm as the two of them groaned from his volume, if they didn't get some sleep soon they'd have killer headaches .

And Nino did not want to fight an Akuma with a headache. Quicker than anything Kim picked up their bags before slinging them over his shoulders.

Nino was halfway through attempting to stand when he felt Kim's hands grab him before he was suddenly slung over one of his shoulders, very disgracefully.

"Kim!" And judging by the head of dark hair, Marinette was slung over his other shoulder too. She was at least able to put up a little bit of a fight, just for a moment, before she slumped and let Kim take them away.

This was not the first time Kim had done this to them, so some people weren't that surprised to see it happening again. Although most were still surprised to see the jock carrying two of his classmates like sandbags.

They were two tires to really care about people looking, too tired to answer the questions sent their way. Even too tired to properly Greet Sabine when Kim got them through the bakery doors.

Much to Sabine and Tom's amusement.

Nino only snapped out of his haze for long enough to notice that Kim had taken to being their pillow, again, and that Marinette was leaning into his collar as his arms wrapped around her. Kim's arms were wrapped around both of them and someone had covered them in a blanket.

For one fleeting moment, Nino believed he was six again, back when things were so much simpler. Back to when he was just Nino, Not Carapace, Not an older brother, Not... Well, he didn't want to think about that last one.

Pulling Marinette closer to him he embraced her warmth as he dozed off, at least this time, he wouldn't wake up on some random rooftop in the middle of nowhere.

or maybe he would... You never knew when you were with Kim.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nino's jacket is based off of this:  
> https://www.beautifulhalo.com/mens-sportive-short-sleeve-drawstring-hood-plain-zipper-hoodie-p-391068.html?curSize=L&showColor=Black¤cy1=GBP&track=PA_G_SGB321&gclid=Cj0KCQjwtLT1BRD9ARIsAMH3BtVRWksDwu7MtVPWkP0jfFC_560EYyBcuRh62ZosPrqfGqSqNnwajDsaAqahEALw_wcB
> 
> You just have to imagine it in the details given to it in chapter two, there are no real references for me to give.
> 
> Ladybug redesign by lunian on Tumblr here: https://lunian.tumblr.com/post/187946955609/me-my-salty-ass-who-is-asking-for-justice-for
> 
> I realised that I've only done episode chapters and I need to write some transitional chapters here and there. And there are somethings I need to get cleared up.


	7. Horrificator

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nino just wanted to make a good horror movie. Was that too much to ask? In France? Apparently so.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Of you would like to ask about this AU, you can send any and all questions to here: https://spartanxwrites.tumblr.com
> 
> To my ML dedicated writing Blog.

Fingers gripped around his phone, Nino slowly stepped around the classroom, camera aimed at the two students who where huddled behind the desk. Water guns in hand.

Eyes darting to Alix he waited till she clicked the board. This was yet another attempt to film their school movie project, _another_ being the key word cause.

**"AAAHHHHHH!"**

Nino reflexively tapped the pause button on his phone as he brought his fingers into his ears. "Alright cut!" He felt bad for Mylēne, he did but this was what? The tenth take?

Pushing his glasses up he pinched the bridge of his nose, eyes glancing down to Mylēne as she huddled under the table.

Ivan, in all his costumed glory, knelt down next to the table. "I'm sorry Mylēne, I'm not trying to scare you." The classes giant pulled off the purple and pink monster mask. It was actually pretty dope, even more so when Marinette had only had about two days of warning to make. "Its just big ol' me."

Moving back Nino took his glass of water from the table before taking a sip, looking around the room. Juleka was fixing up Adrien's make up, Rose was manning the snack table, Alya and Marinette were checking the script and everyone else was milling about until they could do their things.

"Mylène." Placing down his glass Nino stepped Forwards. He didn't speak harshly but he must have come off as annoyed since the aspiring actor shrunk under the table slightly. "That's like, the tenth take, and we're only on the first scene."

" Fourteen, actually. " Alix piped up from the back row of seats, feet resting on the desk. "But who's counting?"

" I'm sorry, I'll try harder. "

Just like every other shoot. "You're playing an agent of the special forces, you shouldn't be scared." Admittedly, he felt bad as Mylēne pushed herself further under the table. He didn't think _he_ gave off that much of an aura of intimidation, as far as he could tell.

Sighing Nino retreated to the back of the room as he pocketed his phone, he picked up a bowl of Apple slices before popping one in his mouth. He gave Mylēne some time before he popped back down the steps, slyly slipping a Apple slice into his jacket pocket, where Wayzz was currently residing.

Clapping he got everyone's attention. "Ivan, I need you to put the mask back on, you're playing the monster! And Mylène, we need you to stay in character!" He gave the short girl a calm, reassuring smile , hoping he came across as nice.

This whole thing was giving him a headache.

As Mylēne turned away Ivan Slipped the monster mask on, for a moment Nino thought everything could be cool and they could move onwards.

Except, Mylēne got scared again when she turned around. Nino could feel the faint throbs of an oncoming headache

"I need to sing my happy song, it always makes me feel better... " Nino was down to let the girl do Whatever it took to calm herself, as long at it helped ease his head, he didn't care."Smelly wolf, smelly wolf, stinky breath and slimy-- Ahh! "

He flinched at the loud noise And had to resist to plug his ears up

 **"** And the Oscar for best pathetic scaredy-cat afraid of its own shadow goes to... Mylène!"

Nino could only stare at Chloé incredulously, it was a shame he couldn't bring up the two times an Akuma had gone after her, cause he Technically wasn't supposed to know about that. But he knew she had been scared during both times.

"Chloé, seriously?" On the look of disappointment in Adrien's face was killer, he could tell Chloé was trying hard to not be affected by it.

"Yeah, so what?" 

The slight son from Mylēne tugged at his heart as he watched the girl run from the room. Great. There went their lead actress.

"Mylène!" Marinette turned back to them, hands raised in a manner in which she was asking for help. "Anyone gonna go after her?"

It took a moment but Ivan began to move and ran his way out the room "Mylenè, wait! "

There was several moments of silence, as if someone expected something to happen. When it seemed to look like neither was coming Nino blew a breath out of his nose.

"Epic, Chloé! Just epic!" Nino walked his way down the stairs, scowl present in his face as he flicked his hat up slightly. "What are we supposed to do now without our leading actress?

Chloé scoffed "Who needs her, anyway? She was totally lame!"

Nino was sure if he looked around he'd have seen several members of the class looking at least disappointed at her. It was a shame she held on too tightly to her 'High and mighty' attitude to notice it.

"You're lame!" Several people flinched at Ivan loud re-entrance into the room. The last time he'd been this angry?... They all knew what happened then. "Mylène is crying her eyes out on the bathroom thanks to you!" 

If that didn't make Nino feel like crap, he wasn't sure what would. Mylēne was a sweet girl, if a little shy and skitterish.

"Me, lame?" The red capped boy shoved his hand into his face, why couldn't Chloé see beyond herself right now... Or ever, really. Feeling his headache come on a little heavier he backed off to the back of the room to grab a cup of water, drowning out everything everyone was saying.

* * *

There was something exciting about sneaking off from the master.

Plagg was a simple Kwami, he went with the flow, are cheese, slept and did as he pleased. And while that didn't always work out in the past, he didn't see a problem with what he was doing now.

Besides, he was sure master Fu wouldn't mind if he got a little recon done on the school. Multiple Akuma's had come from here after all and besides the fact that maybe it was because all high schools were filled with Hormonal teens, Plagg was a little worried that Hawkmoth was onto the two teen heroes who shared a class.

Wasn't that a kick? The two, randomly picked, teens shared the same class in the same school.

Slipping through the walls he noted that the school was very empty, though he did see the hero's and their class earlier his stomach had dragged him to the kitchen for a cheesy snack before he found himself... Wherever he was now.

Oh... The girls bathroom. Yeah, No. He was getting out of here.

"You're brave, You can do it..." In a minute, this sounded entertaining. Floating around the stall doors the Kwami of destruction peaked under the one he was at. Seeing one of the girls from Pigtails and Headphones class. "You can go back... You... I can't do it."

' _Ouch, Low self confidence much?_ '

He felt bad for the kid, really he did, but sometimes people just weren't cut out for certain things.

Mylēne did her best to breath in and out, muttering her happy song as she did so. Her arms were pulled close to her and her shoulders were taunt.

"You're not a scaredy cat, you're not a scaredy cat." She whispered as she rocked herself side to side slightly. She could do this, she could managed this. "I'm not afraid."

" You're not are you? " Sucking in a breath Mylēne spun around, eyes glancing around each direction for the person who just whispered into her ear.

'It was nothing' Paranoia, fear, panic. It wasn't real. "It's not real." Yeah... A figment of her imagination. Machinations of her mind, not real... At all.

Turning back to the mirror she just wanted to fix herself up, instead, she found herself looking into a very green eye, the rest of her vision was blocked by black. Her body froze, she wasn't sure if she should blink or scream.

"Boo!" The girl screamed and closed her eyes as Plagg flew into one of the stall, chuckling the whole way. That was the most fun he'd had in a while, Master Fu was a boring man after all.

The Kwami was ready to prank the girl again but as he looked out he saw an Akuma fly into on of her Pins.

Suddenly the Kwami of destruction was curious if the classroom had any cheese, it wouldn't hurt to look would it?

* * *

"Nino?" 

" Hmm?, Yeah Alya? " The shouting was really getting to his head. Which tea soothed headaches? Or should he forget about that and go straight to the painkillers? Both?

"Did you add a kiss to my script?"

" Our script. And yes, it'll get the flow of the movie going "

Alya stared at him incredulously, like he'd said the dumbest thing ever. "It makes no sense story wise, The main character's emotional journey..."

"Hold on!" Nino flinched from the sudden shout, which seemed to gain the attention of Rose, although his eyes turned to Marinette. "We can't let Mylène just leave just like that, it's... wrong! We all chose her to play the leading female role! And... we're all in this movie together! She needs our support. I'm gonna go find her and bring her back."

When Nino thought he couldn't fall in love with her more, there was always that one thing that dragged him in more. And honestly? Her being so caring was really cute.

"Always trying to save the day, aren't you, Marinette? Good luck finding the filthy hole that scaredy-cat’s hiding in!" The blonde girl called after Marinette's leaving form, hands cupped around her mouth the make her voice echo.

"Shut up Chloé."

For a moment Nino's brain caught up to him and he realised he had told Chloé - I will ruin your life - Bourgeois to shut up. And for that moment only he was a afraid that she might live up to the name he had given to her.

"I have a headache." That seemed to garner some sympathy from the others and stop Chloé from going on a screeching rampage, for now.

Feeling his hand being turned over he felt a small box be placed in it. He shot Juleka a greatful smile for the painkillers before he opened the box and took some out.

"What do we do now? We only have so much time to finish recording and with no lead we can't record."

Nino hummed as he popped the tablets into his mouth and took a swing of his water. Swallowing them down he put his cup down. "We've got what? Nine hours? We wait for Marinette to come back with Mylēne."

" Simp. " Alix whispered to herself, a little greatful that no-one was paying attention to her.

"Well that's not happening," Chloé placed her hands on her hips as she tired to stare Nino down, she was failing. "So why don't _I_ just take the lead role and we get this over with."

"The less time I spend with you lot the better."

Alya squinted her eyes at the blonde, hands gripping around her clipboard. "If you didn't want to be here, why are you?"

" And miss a chance to hang out with Adrikins? I'd rather chip a nail. "

"Cause that's such an issue." Alya muttered as she moved around the room.

"Anyway, I think we should get a move on, given that I don't think Mr. Damocles wants us here the whole day. " Oh no. Chloé was giving him _that_ look, the one that promised pain and punishment of he didn't listen.

He didn't have the mental fortitude to argue against her but he also didn't want to bend to her. He also had to get Chris later and babysit him so... "Fine, Chloé's the lead BUT! only so Adrien can practise his part until Marinette and Mylēne come back."

" Hurmph! That's hardly fair. "

"I'm getting Marinette." Leaning on his hand, Nino hoped Alya wouldn't be long. And he hoped she dragged Mylēne too, that would make the day. "Alright set everything up, get into position and get ready."

Even though Nino did want to get this over with so he could nurse his head before having to deal with Chris, even he felt like Chloé's lackluster performance in regards to the script was... Really pathetic.

He was glad Marinette and Alya came back before Chloé could kiss Adrien, his boy was looking a little awkward. Hell, Chloé was unusually stiff too, almost as if she was stalling or putting off Kissing Adrien.

Of course, he got a little peeved when Mari and Alya convinced Chloé to go through with her idea to turn agent Smith into a nurse... A nurse?

Sure it got rid of Chloé, along with Max, Kim and Sabrina to boot unfortunately but he didn't like the idea of Marinette taking the main role. He could read the signs of stress in her, the taunt shoulders and twitchy fingers.

Whether from having to act or... Kiss Adrien... He wasn't sure.

"Alya, I really don't want to do it. We need to find Mylēne." The biracial girl hid behind her clipboard, trying to avoid Adrien's gaze. She wasn't sure if Adrien was neutral or Happy about her acting for the main role. It was hard to tell as Juleka fixed up his makeup.

She didn't even want the main role. No, leave her in the producer role.

"Girl, I know you're nervous but now is _the_ perfect time." Taking the clipboard from her bestie, Alya spun her towards everyone else. "Marinette will do it. Juleka, make up, I'm certain Adrien looks _just_ fine."

Nino held his tongue as they got Marinette ready. It didn't matter how much he wanted to stop it. Or even force a break to look for Mylēne, he wasn't going to give in to simple jealousy over a kiss.

~~Technically Kim had her first kiss given those two had kissed back when they were seven~~

Still he went though just fine with recording his two friends kissing... Or, almost kissing. Given that Chloé had interrupted them.

"Cut!!! I _knew_ it!"

' _Thank Kwami.'_ Call him selfish but he could see how uncomfortable his girl was and he wanted all of that to stop .

"What did I say about other people saying cut?" He had to at least pretend to be annoyed right? Couldn't give away that he actually appreciated what Chloé did.  
****

**"** Well played, Marinette!" Chloé slowly clapped she sauntered in, Sabrina right behind her. "All that speech about working together, then you stab me right in the back! Well, your stupid little movie won't make it into the festival if I'm not in it, because my daddy is one of the judges!"

"Hey! I didn't want to be in it in the first place. I was pushed into the role. "

"A likely story, I bet you..." The sound of screaming cut her off, making the present students stop what they were doing and look around. 

"Did you guys hear that?" Nino nodded as he moved closer to the door, eyes peaking out the window in the wall.

"If this is another one of your silly ploys to get me out of the way, you can forget it! Besides, I—" The sound of more screaming shut Chloé up, Nino tensed from where he was.

"I definitely heard that. We better scope this out! " Seeing the other members of his class follow Marinette, Nino decided it was best to do the same. His phone was still recording from the last attempt anyway. So he mIght as well try to get some authentic footage.

"A fruity snack for the road?" Looking back he gestured for Rose to follow the rest of them out. Walking down the stairs he saw the class congregating in the courtyard, milling around her looking anxious. This was beginning to feel like a horror movie now.

 **"** Hey! Anybody here?" Nino wondered if Adrien was aware of the rules of being in a horror movie. Cause shouting like he was was a good way to attract the monster to them. "Kim! Max! Where are you guys!"

Adjusting his cap he tapped the pocket where Wayzz was hiding, just in case he was sleeping. Looking over the class he could see Marinette knelt over a small puddle of... Goo?

This screamed Akuma.

"I saw the same pink goo..." Marinette gasped as she stood up. "The bathroom! Alya you remember right? "

"That's Kim's!" Nino eyebrows raised as Adrien picked up Kim's sweatband.

This was bad, really bad, definitely an Akuma. But why here? Why now?

  
"They vanished!" Nathaniel collapsed to his knees dramatically, Panic clear in his voice.

"Or they're playing a sick joke on us." Alya crossed her arms as Nino sneaked a glance backup to their homeroom, he needed to break away.

"We should go to principal Damocles' office and tell him what's going on!" Good idea Marinette he'd just stay here and... "Nino, come on! Stop filming!"

Huh? Looking down at his hand he realised he was still recording and had been capturing most of the class' reactions.

 **"** Not a chance! This is just getting good!" He needed them to believe he wasn't going to miss out on this, good to have an alibi... Right?

"Hey Adrien, take this a second." He handed Adrien his phone, making sure he was holding it the right way. "I gotta get something, keep recording."

"Nino? Where are you going?"

"You... ugh... left Officer Jones' jacket back there!" He pointed up to the classroom as he took slow steps away from Adrien. "You Should probably wear it in all the scenes, so I'll go get it."

Quickly he spun around and ran up the steps two at a time, seeing the whole class walking off towards the Mr. Damocles office. Good, that should make his alibi somewhat believable but he needed it to be rock solid.

Stepping into the room he knelt down before opening his pocket, letting Wayzz out.

"Something wrong Nino? " The green Kwami was scanning the room, yellow eyes squinted slightly.

He nodded as he took his hat off leaving it on the floor. "I Think we've got an Akuma, I can't investigate as Nino. " he Took off his headphones, despite now feeling a sense of vulnerability without them, before dropping them and letting them move to where they pleased. He hoped the cure would fix any damage done to them.

"And why are you leaving those?" Nino ran a hand through his short hair, tugging at the tiny strands. He ignored how Wayzz was staring at the food platters, he'd get him more food later.

"Cause I need everyone to think I've been captured and that I'm not hiding." Standing up he dusted himself down before slightly pressing his foot on his hat, making it crumple slightly.

He hated doing that.

"That's clever, You know the magic words."

" Wayzz, " He lifted up his wrist, pointing the miraculous towards the Kwami. "Shell on!"

He closed his eyes as he let his transformation wash over him, going through the motions with practised ease before finally flipping the hood up and over his head before flicking his glasses, turning them into their signature goggles.

opening his eyes he pulled his Shield off his back before stepping out the room. Noticing that the entire place had darkened considerably since he had closed his eyes and not in a natural way either.

looking up to the skylight he saw the same pink too from before covering the entire thing, encasing the courtyard in an almost spooky aura for for a horror movie. He wished he could keep recording himself just to get the picture right.

Reeling his arm back he threw his Shield up at it, watching as it bounced off harmlessly and came back to him. Maybe he could use Fortify to test a hole but... The Akuma could just fix it up before they could do anything with it.

OK, best place to find everyone was the office, as that's where they were heading. Still, as he turned to the area where the office was he couldn't help but feel like eyes were on him, tugging at his hood he tried to pull it down further.

Stepping close to the door he could hear... Was that Ladybug he could hear?

"We've got to calmly evacuate the building, okay everyone?" Stepping up to be door he stopped as he leaned against the frame, seeing everyone looking at Ladybug. Some, Like Alya, were in awe. Others like Nathaniel looked a bit panicked at her presence.

"No Can do Bug. " He caught everyone's attention, Alya and Adrein turning their phones to him. ~~Well Nino s phone~~ "Buildings sealed off, No way out. " He pointed to the top that was slowly sliding down the window.

"Really strong, not gonna break through easily, or effectively. "

"Wicked." He looked to. Juleka, who was looking out he window in awe, as if the very horror movie like situation was cool.

"We're trapped!" Chloé streaked as she pulled her phone out, paving back and forth around the room. " I'm calling daddy. "

"That's not gonna work dudette cause..."

" NO SIGNAL! "

"Classic horror movie trope."

He twitched slightly when Ladybug grabbed the collar of his suit before pulling him further into the room and close to the window.

"Ok, so we both know this is Hawkmoths doing, he's got an innocent victim somewhere." Ladybug put a hand to her chin, her foot tapping on thought. "You didn't happen to see anything on your way in did you?"

" Other then the goo forming over the place, no. So we've got to look inside the school. Curing that Akuma is out only way out. " Seeing movement next to.him, he turned to see Adrien slowly moving closer, Nino s phone raised at them, although more aimed at Ladybug then Carapace. "You good dude?"

" ugh, yeah... Just, trying to be a good cameraman while my buddies gone. " Nino felt touched that Adrien was trying to capture good footage, although he did have to ignore the heart eyes he was giving his partner.

"Alright everyone!" Ladybug clapped her hands, gaining everyone's attention. " we're gonna get to the bottom of this, but we all need to stick together. So, stick close. "

The two heroes walked out the room, Ladybug stepped up into the railing before her wings flared out, letting her hover in the air next to the staircase next to Carapace as he lead everyone else into the courtyard.

"Remember everyone, first rule in a horror movie, don't split up. " He knew that was a little hypocritical but he had a reason to split off from everyone.

"Where's Nino?" Turning Back he regarded his class with a confused look, he hoped he wouldn't have more Akuma's around the whole class, he wasn't sure if he could keep up this much obliviousness for long.

"Who's Nino?"

" Our friend, he was going back to the classroom to get a jacket for our play. "

"Alright we'll start there then," Ladybug spoke as she flew up to the second floor. "We'll get everyone together first before continuing."

Unable to argue Carapace went up the stairs two steps at a time. Only looking backbone he was at the top, he stayed there until everyone else has passed him... although, he couldn't see Chloé or Sabrina within the group and he knew they were in the principals office not long ago.

"That's Nino's Headset, " Oh, looks like they found his stuff. "And his hat." Walking in the room he acted ignorant to the two items Ivan was holding.

"Strange," Ladybug muttered as she looked at the items . "There's no goo on them."

Uh, oh. Carapace froze, there was no way Ladybug was gonna figure out his bluff... right?

"No, but there's too her-eeeeee! " In the span of a second the table was flung over everyone, making everyone scream

Nathaniel was caught up in the giant monsters tail. Said monster was made of pink goo and it's head was... Just like the monster mask Marinette had made.

The monster had let out a roar, making most of the students scream as they back away. Even Ladybug flew to the back of the room in surprise, For a moment the mass of goo grew bigger then it was before, it's tail encircling around Nathaniel a bit more.

The only two people who didn't react with fear was Carapace and Juleka, who both stop there with similar looks of awe.

"Awesome," Admittedly Nino had to agree with the goth.

"Really awesome."

Oddly enough it shrunk a little bit after that, leaving it in its original size before feeling back, seeing its throat wobble and move Nino grabbed Juleka by the shoulders and three the two of them to the ground .

"No more observing! Get out! " Flipping onto his back he shot his legs up into a table, sending it towards the monster as the students ran out of the room, Which was quickly slapped away before it ran out the room too.

Not wanting to lose the Akuma both of the heroes bolted out the room. Carapace jumping down from the second floor while Ladybug flew down into the centre of the courtyard. Nino grimaced at the feeling in his knees before he stood up tall, not wanting to appear weak.

"We need to find the Akumatised object!" She widening Ladybug quickly shit up and out of the way of a blast of goo.

Carapace rested his arm back before flinging his Shield, watching as it grazed past the monsters head before coming back to him. "Easier said than done, all I see is slime."

The monster turned towards the group of their classmates, all of them hiding behind Ivan, who's arms were held out wide the protect his classmates.

Most of them screamed in at it and like before it grew larger.

"That's it! Fear makes the Akuma stronger, we have to not show fear to defeat it." Dropping to the ground Ladybug took off running, spinning her Yo-Yo rapidly.

Nino ran toward too, but slightly to the side before jumping up a few of the steps giving him an elevated position to attack. He pulled off his secondary tool, holding it in his free hand before leaping off the railing as Ladybug slid underneath the monster, wrapping her Yo-Yo around it leg. Preparing to pull by bracing against the stairs beam.

Unfortunately, while he was in mid flight, he was hit by a lump of slime, which sent him up and onto the railing of the second floor. Ladybug herself was flung into the basketball hoop where she too was stuck with some goop.

Nino cringed at the sight of the monster licking Ivan in the face before snatching Alix and running off with both her and Nathaniel. Blocking the door it went though with its slime.

"It's taking Alix and Nathaniel!" Rose clung to Juleka's side, head almost buried into the goths torso with his close she was.

"Everyone, you need to set aside your fear, the more scared you are the more powerful it becomes."

" How about we focus on us for now Bug? " Depite his Shield being stuck in the goo Carapace was able to angle his other tool to point towards ladybug, with the click of a few buttons two if he wires shot out. One of them bedded itself in the board behind her head earning him a 'hey' as the other embedded into the wall behind him. 

The two wires began to contract back into his tool, pulling the basketball hoop forwards until it cracked and split apart. Ladybug fell down with a tell before her wings fluttered and she floated and inch off the ground.

"Fortify" Feeling the magic wrap around him he tensed as he tried to pull his arms forwards, the goo cracking until it burst open and he fell to the floor. Landing on one knee with a fist on the floor.

"Come on, let's go find it." He pulled his tool off from the broken board before reattaching it to his hip.

"Did you see what it did to Ivan? Why would it do that? "

"Because... " Did he have an answer? Under what context would an akuma, actually like someone? unless... "It's Mylēne Dudette, those two are together, it makes sense that they'd not want to hurt each other."

"Where's Sabrina and Chloé?" The two heroes turned towards the rest of the remaining students , Nino actually shied away from the lenses, he much preferred to be on the other side of the camera.

"We'll find them, I promise." As if they had heard them they heard Chloé scream out. The two heroes bolted for the door in which they heard it come from. Nino bounced off the door as he tried to ram through it. He backed up slightly before giving the door one powerful kick , swinging it open and sending the metal lockers that blocked the door flying.

"We're too late."

"Not quite, see." The spotted hero pointed to the trail of slime that was left behind. " We can find out where it's going and rescue all the people she's taken. "

Nodding the two of them began to run, following the path as it took them through several classrooms and hallways until they found themselves headed down a hallway towards the boiler room.

All of the students stood in shock of the room, multiple blobs of pink goo where all over the room, some were dangling from the ceiling too.

"Is everybody alright I'm here? Alix!? Mr. Damocles!? Sabrina!? "

Nino could hear all of the captive victims call out to them and it sounded like they were all here.

"Where's Nino!? You in here!?" UH, Oh. Ducking behind a large blob of goo Nino called back, cupping his mouth to make it sound muffled .

"I'm good Adrien!"

In the corner of his eye he saw movement up from where nobody else was , seeing the Akuma begin to wind up a shot.

"Everyone get down!"

Fortunatly everyone listen and ducked under the incoming blob. Unfortunately, the goop had managed to block their only escape. Leaving all of them stuck in there.

"Alright I've had enough. " He threw his Shield as hard as he could, watching as it collided into the Akuma's face, making her stumble back before falling off the heightened platform. Luckily not crushing any of the blob mounds.

"Ladybug! Do something! " Sprinting forwards he jumped at Mylēne before being swatted away, the Akuma roared in his face but he only stared back defiantly before going for a another swing.

"Lucky Charm!" ... "Guitar strings, oh come on."

" You'll figure it out! " She always did, just like he always protected everyone, that was his job here.

As he fought he could hear the sound of something scrape against the floor, fucking and weaving around Mylēne's five limbs was not an easy task and eventually he was knocked back close to the group. Everyone was holding makeshift instruments.

"Everyone, Play Mylēne's song, Carapace, protect us! "

Bringing his Shield up he braced his feet. "Shell-ter!" The green bubble of magic surrounded them in a shell shaped dome , protecting all of them from both the Akuma's powerful limbs and sticky blobs.

Slowly the remaining class members played Mylēne's song, they watched as the Akuma shrank down. With each decrease in size each other them felt less afraid and was able to play with more confidence, resulting in Mylēne shrinking down to the size of a small puppy.

Believing her to not longer be a threat, Nino dropped shield and they all watched as she ran and jumped into Ivan's arms like a lost pet, giving his face licks along the way.

"Hey, that's the pin I gave her earlier." 

Plucking the pin from her head gently, Nino held it up to the light. "Then this is where the Akuma is." Snapping it in half they watched as the corrupted butterfly flew out.

Ladybug snatched up the Akuma, realising the pure butterfly a moment later.

"MIRACULOUS LADYBUG!"

* * *

"We didn't make the cut!" Nino ranted as he and several other classmates were waiting on him to deliver the news about the film competition. "He said the monster was a horrible replica! Completely unbelievable! No joke!"

It was an actual Akuma, how could you call that unrealistic?

"Don't worry, bud." Adrien threw his arm around Nino s shoulder as they began to walk away. "This is how all good movie directors start out."

"Yeah, even if that final kiss wasn't quite what we thought it would be." Alya gestured to Ivan and Mylēne, who were sat down on a bench.

Nino didn't mind about them taking the spotlight of the film, not one bit at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nino's jacket is based off of this:  
> https://www.beautifulhalo.com/mens-sportive-short-sleeve-drawstring-hood-plain-zipper-hoodie-p-391068.html?curSize=L&showColor=Black¤cy1=GBP&track=PA_G_SGB321&gclid=Cj0KCQjwtLT1BRD9ARIsAMH3BtVRWksDwu7MtVPWkP0jfFC_560EYyBcuRh62ZosPrqfGqSqNnwajDsaAqahEALw_wcB
> 
> You just have to imagine it in the details given to it in chapter two, there are no real references for me to give.
> 
> Ladybug redesign by lunian on Tumblr here: https://lunian.tumblr.com/post/187946955609/me-my-salty-ass-who-is-asking-for-justice-for


	8. TimeBreaker

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A Birthday, A race, A watch. Who could've guessed today would go horribly?

Pacing around his room Nino kept patting himself down, Phone, Wallet, Keys, Miraculous, Snacks for Wayzz, Headphones. He swore he was missing something, yet with each glance around the room He could only draw blanks.

He knew he was missing something, he just couldn't put his finger onto what it was, He didn't have much time until he had to head down to the Trocadéro, Where Alix and Kim would be having a race. Not only that but it was Alix's sixteenth Birthday too and Everyone from class was going to be there to celebrate it with her.

Deciding that it wasn't that important he strode out his room with his bag hoisted over his shoulder. Glancing up at the clock he noted that he had plenty of time to reach the meet up point without having to be late.

"Bye mom, be back later!" He called out as he passed the kitchen.

"Oh, Nino wait." He hand paused on the handle of the door, face grimacing for only a moment before he turned around.

" Yeah? " ' _Please don't be something bad, please don't be something bad '_

"Could you maybe take Chris with you? I need to go work and I can't have him up here on his own or running around the store, is that alright? I'll make it up to you." On one hand Nino didn't want to drag his bro to somewhere where he could be bored, even if a race might excite him but he also knew things had been bad ever since...

"Alright, where is he?" He didn't want to think about... _That_. So instead he decided that getting his brother to Tom with him wasn't as bad.

His mother smiled at him from behind her glasses before turning towards the living room. "Chris your brother is taking you out, go on get your shoes."

Nino waited until his brother got into his sight, eyes widening as he noticed the very familiar red hat on his head. Raising his hand he placed it on his head, feeling his short cut hair under his fingers.

"Chris, that's my hat." He spoke in that ' I'm upset but I'll let you off cause you're cute' voice. Opening the door he gestured him to walk out as he took his hat back and firmly placed it on his head. "Be back later mom."

" Stay safe Nino. "

"Will do." He called back as he shut the door. ' _Like you wouldn't beleive'_

Turning around he grabbed Chris' hand into his to hold, after messing up his hair of course. All while ignoring the indignant 'hey' he let out.

"Where are we going Nino?" Oh those eyes, wide and curious and filled with such childish innocence. Nino wanted to preserve that.

"You remember Kim right?" Seeing his brother Nod he continued. "Well, he's decided that he's going to race one of my classmates today and it's her birthday today too, so I'm going to watch."

" Kim's going to win! " Chris jumped up, throwing his fist in the air in a short of celebratory pose.

He hoped Kim wouldn't win, just this once. He wasn't sure he could handle any more dares this year from one of his oldest friends.

"If we slow down we'll miss it, come on."

* * *

Arriving on time was a piece of cake, the hard part was stopping Chris from just running out into the road whenever they were crossing somewhere. Walking up to his classmates he waved.

"Hey guys. Had to bring my brother, that's not a problem is it?" Most of his classmates have him a simple no and Chris a smile, welcoming the smaller boy. Rose however...

"Oh My! He's so cute!" She squealed, bouncing around slightly before pinching his cheeks slightly. "Look at you, you still got baby fat on your face."

Nino chuckled at the scene as Juleka looked at Rose jealously, catching the Goths uncovered eye he raised an eyebrow as he tilted his head. She raised her middle finger to him behind Roses back.

'Juleka' He mouthed, pointing to his brother. She dropped her hand as Nino turned back to the blonde. "Alright Rose, I think he's had enough."

" Oh... Ok. " Standing back up she leaned back into Juleka and Nino enjoyed the light blush that dusted over her cheeks.

"Hey, Hey, Hey! It's the Chrismonster." Kim sauntered up to them, Chris began to bounce excitedly. "Handshake!"

Putting his hand up Kim waited till Chris put his hand into his, grasping their hands they shook, switched to a fist bump then Kim bumped the bottom of his fist against the top of Chris' then Chris did it back. Finally the two of them high fived each other.

"You still got it dude." Scruffing up his hair Kim walked away and greeted Nino with a heavy pat on the shoulder. "So, come to see me kick Alix's Butt or what?"

" Or what sounds good to me. " The undignified look on Kim's face was well worth any pouting he may do later.

"Really dude? And here I thought you'd actually support me." Kim crossed his arms, not in an unfriendly manner but more of a joking way.

"Any other race dude," Nino patted his shoulder. "Any other race I'm with you one hundred percent of the way, just not this one."

Kim shook his head in mock disappointment before returning to his warm up stretches. Nino looked around the class, noticing that some people still weren't here, ignoring Marinette's usual lateness, Adrien and Alix still weren't here.

"Where Adrien and Alix?" He really hoped Adrien was able to get out, things seemed different since the boys birthday but Nino wasn't sure if it was for the best of worst.

"Adrikins is right here." Turning around he caught sight of both Chloé and Adrien walking up, Nino could hear a few people give of quiet sighs. Even Nino tensed up a little as she subtly stood in front of Chris, who was chattering away happily to Mylēne.

"Hey dude, thought your pops might've stopped you from coming." Both boys grasped hands and did a shoulder bump, their own greeting.

"He would've, if I didn't get involved, so you're welcome." Nino looked at Chloé incredulously, he knew Adrien and Chloé were friends but the idea of Chloé essentially jail breaking Adrien for one of Kim's races? It didn't sound right, not after Dark Cupid.

"Chloé's right, I really didn't want to miss this so she made sure I could come." Nodding Nino decided to just accept it as it was, if anything Chloé would just sit at the back until this was all over.

Alya put her phone down as she walked over to the two boys. "Just got off with little miss bakery girl... I think she forgot." Nino chuckled as a fond Smile grew on his face, that sounded like her. "She'll be here in... Ten minutes? Give or take."

Relaxing his muscles, cause he was still tensing from when Chloé got here, he let himself relax. They still had to wait for both Alix and Marinette to get here, so the race wouldn't start for a while.

So he happily let the conversations flow around him as he kept an eye on Chris, hands in his jacket pockets bad he ran a thumb over Wayzz shell.

The sounds of Running caught his attention, turning towards it a smile broke out on his face as he caught Marinette running towards them. Most of everyone gave her a greeting as she caught her breath before she unrolled the banner she was holding.

Nino let out a short whistle as everyone else clapped or said something nice about the banner, minus Chloé but Nino was ignoring that.

"That's impressive Marinette." Adrien winked at her, tilting his head as he did so.

Marinette blinked at him as she frowned. "Is there something in your eye Adrien?"

Nino, admittedly, was a little annoyed that Adrien could so boldly flirt with Marinette. Although on a second look, maybe that wasn't his intention. As Marinette moved past the blonde boy Chloé pulled Adrien closer to her.

"Adrien," She whispered just loud enough for Nino to hear her. " What did I say about copying from your Anime shows? I told you it doesn't work like that. "

"Sorry Chloé."

Nino had to stifle a laugh at that, he knew Adrien was sheltered but that much? Even that was a surprise to him. Nino took hold of the end of the banner, moving away enough to be able to unfold it out. E didn't like being away from the girl but he supposed it was just something he had to put up with for now.

"I can't wait till Alix beats him." He smiled at his long time crush , eyes darting to Chris who was next to her.

"I know right, finally, someone who can." She giggled, the two had had enough of Kim's antics to last a lifetime. They were going to owe Alix so much when she shut him up.

"You all picked the wrong side to cheer on." Kim boasted as he stretched. "Looks like Alix isn't even showing up! Probably too chicken to race an extreme athlete like me."

Just as he finished speaking Alix had skated passed him, startling him before rolling back to him "Spoke too soon, Kim." Everyone let out a little cheer "Your ridiculous bets are over. I'm gonna leave you in the dust, meathead!

Kim didn't take insult to heart, Nino knew he wouldn't. "You're no match for me. My neck is bigger than your thigh."

Alya giggled a little as she leaned towards Marinette. "Is that a good thing?"

Nino wishes he could put Marinette's laugh on repeat forever, instead he smiled as he leaned over as much as he could without disturbing the banner. "Definitely not a good thing." He spotted Kim giving him a playful glare so he tapped the top of his hat as he stood up straight .

Max pushed the two, almost squabbling, jocks away from each other before adjusting his glasses "Let's review the official rules. Two laps around the fountains; approximately 500 yards. The first one over the line's declared the victor!" Pretty standard by Nino's definition, although being Carapace had changed that. "If Kim triumphs, Alix will relinquish her rollerblades to him. If Alix triumphs, Kim will be prohibited from making another dare for the rest of the school year."

And that was the whole reason why everyone was voting for Alix, no more dares from Kim. It would be akin to a world without Hawkmoth, paradise.

"We're through with all of those stupid dares!"

"Uh-huh, that's right!"

" No more dares!"

Max held up his hand to calm everyone down, getting between the jocks as they readied themselves. "On your marks, get set..."

" Hold up! " Nino, and most of the class, busted out laughing at the way Kim almost fell forwards from the false start.

"Forfeiting already?" Alix shot the big a glare before rolling over to Alya, pulling out a... Was that an old pocket watch? Nino didn't think she would have something like that.

"Here Alya, look after this for me ok? I don't wanna drop it during the race."

"Hold on girl, I can't! I gotta..." Alya was slowly waving her hands, phone in one and watch in another.

"Guard it with your life. It's a family heirloom!" Alix got back into position before giving Max a nod.

"On your marks, get set... GO!" The two jocks shot off, Nino cheered loud when Alix caught up to Kim's initial lead.

He darted his eyes to Chris to make sure he was behaving, just in time to see Adrien catch the pocket watch. Marinette let out a sigh of relief as she rubbed her face. "Thanks Adrien."

" That's alright, I'll keep hold of it ok? " Marinette nodded before she turned back to the race. Nino was about to do the same before he caught Chris trying to reach up to take the watch from Adrien.

"Chris," he spoke in a warning tone, a voice he rarely used with him. "Don't touch, it's not yours."

"But, I wanna see it. " Adrien had to raise his hand to keep it out of Chris' reach, Nino could tell he was apologetic but he could also tell Adrien was gonna buckle soon, very soon. That boy had no experience with children's puppy eyes, he was weak to them.

"What'cha got there Adrikins," Chloé plucked the watch from his hand, holding it inbetween two fingers. "Some old case or something?"

"That Alix's Chloé, be careful. " Adrien reached over to carefully take it back but Chloé just moved away, inspecting it more. Now with a frown.

"Last lap!" Max called out, Nino wanted to watch but he didn't want to turn his attention away from Alix's watch.

"If it's Alix's is probably worthless." Chloé palmed the watch in her hand, Nino and Adrien both frown at her. Just cause nobody else was the daughter of the mayor didn't mean their things were worthless.

"Chloé, you and I both know Alix is just as well off as myself, now give it back before something bad happens." Adrien spoke, while still trying to reach for the watch. While Nino was processing that tidbit of info Chloé was frowning at Adrien, without breaking eye contact she clicked it open.

"Besides what's the worst that ca-aaahhhh!" Chloé shrieked at the flash that emitted from the watch, startling everyone as she launched it forwards and away from her. Nino stood frozen as it bounced down the steps before coming to a stop in the middle of the path. He winced at the crunch it made as Alix ran it over, while it wasn't his fault he still felt responsible.

Alix scooped up the fragments that remained of her watch before turning to Alya. "Ugh! Did you do this?!"

For all it was worth, Alya at least had the decency to look sheepish. "I had to videotape the race so I gave it to Marinette but then she had to hold the banner so she gave it to Adrien, then Chloé snatched it from him and dropped it and, uh, then you skated over it." Alya smile was forced, nervous. Which was fair given that Alix could probably best her six ways to Sunday.

Nino felt a crack in his heart when Alix lifted her face just enough to show her tears. "My old man gave me this for my birthday! This watch is a family heirloom!"

"It was an accident!" Marinette dropped the banner as she stepped down the stairs, trying calm the skater girl down, even as Kim caught up to see what was going on.

"We didn't mean any harm, Alix. I was trying to look after. " Adrien himself partly stepped down the stairs, one hand held to his chest with the other out as if extending her hand to help.

Alix seemed to believe him, Nino wasn't sure, he was also confused about the supposed history between Alix, Chloé and Adrien but that was a conversation for another day.

"As if! I totally had nothing to do with this." And then the mood was ruined by Chloé as she turned away, crossing her arms and avoiding eye contact. Nino could see the hurt in Alix's eyes as he pulled the rest of the banner towards him.

"I can't believe this!" He flinched as her skates hit the floor as she started off, leaving the entire class to mutter along themselves.

"Alix! Wait!" Marinette run off after her, so Nino focused on rolling up the banner, trying to get it exactly as Marinette had it when she arrived.

"Nino?" Feeling a rug on his arm he looked down to Chris . "I'm sorry." Kneeling down with the banner balanced on his knees Nino put one hand on his shoulder.

"It's not your fault, it was an accident, ok?" Seeing the beginning of a tear in his eye Nino wiped it away before setting Chris' glasses straight. His eyes caught something moving towards the group of students in skates. "Alix?" He whispered before he saw the outfit , which was very much Not what she had been wearing before.

"Akuma! Run!" He grabbed Chris' hand dragging him away, dropping the banner as he went. The classmates scattered as Kim was touched on the shoulder, Nino was able to.turn back on time to watch him begin to fade away. 

Pushing Chris into a small spot he held his hand up to stop him getting out. "Stay here," he spoke firmly, seriously making the younger boy freeze. "I'll get you when it's safe, ok."

He sprinted off into another alcove, quickly looking around to be sure no-one could see him before whipping open his pocket, letting Wayzz exit.

"Wayzz, Shell On!" Kicking off the walls, Carapace landed on the roof of the Trocadéro, he overlooked the area for Alix. Sporting her skating towards Adrien he jumped off the building, sliding slightly as he landed between them he grabbed the Akuma's wrist before spinning and throwing her away.

"Thanks." Adrien have him a smile, Nino just grabbed him by the arm before turning him away.

"Go! It's not safe. " Turning back to where Alix had been throw he unhooked his Shield before winding it up and throwing it. Unfortunately, it sailed above her head, his eyes darted to it as it began its curving arc return. "So tell me, what are you getting out of this exchange?"

" The power to go back and save my watch, " His eyes darted between Alix and his Shield, his legs bouncing as she started to skate towards him. Leaping to the side he grabbed his flying shield before spinning it and hitting the Akuma in the back, sending her to the ground again.

"Time out, Timebreaker!" Carapace blew a sigh of relief as Ladybug gently landed next to him, he hasn't wanted to be too rough in case he caused the Akuma to fly free and potentially cause another stoneheart like incident.

"Please, help me up, I messed up, please, please!" He tried to peak past to see what or who Alix was talking to, he wasn't sure if it was even possible to break free from Hawkmoths control.

"Okay." As rose.stepped out Nino stepped fowards, holding out his free hand to stop the blonde girl.

"Rose wait!"

"Noooo!"

"Hahaha!" Alix grabbed Roses wrost, causing her to freeze and begin to fade . "Sweet Rose! Always thinking of others before yourself! "

Alix ducked under the incoming projectile of Ladybugs Yo-Yo, before smirking and skating off, getting both Mylēne and Alya along the way. Carapace followed her with his eyes, resigning to the fact he couldn't catch up to her on foot.

"We gotta stop her bug, before she gets anyone else. I can take her but I can't get close, can you lead her to me?" He flinched as someone else was hit, his eyes catching onto the growing bars on her skates. "The longer we stall, the more people she needs to get, we can't let her hit the main public."

" I'm on it, be ready. " His hood fluttered as Ladybug flew off, his eyes honed in on Alix, he flinched each time someone was caught by her but he had confidence that the cure would bring them all back. His eyes glanced over to where Kim had been... He was putting all his cards into it.

"Nino!" His heart lurched, paranoia ramping up high as he spun around, seeing Chris walking out in the open. The tears in his brothers eyes was enough to shatter him. "Nino where are you!?"

" Ch- Kid! " He caught his attention. "I need you to go hide! Now!"

" Carapace! " Twisting around he saw Ladybug trying to use her yo-yo like a fishing rod, as she flew towards him, dragging Alix along with her. It was smart really, staying in the air where she couldn't be caught.

"Get off me! You pesky bug!" Alix took hold of the Wire before roughly tugging, dragging Ladybug down to the ground in one go. Acting on impulse Nino there his Shield, making it bounce against the ground and curve just around Alix Cutting off her mad dash for Ladybug and forcing her to turn towards him.

He squinted his eyes as he focused on Alix, hands clenching as he slowly stepped forwards, planning the next couple of actions that would be monumental towards winning this battle. Catching his Shield he started into a run, tossing it out sideways making it spin towards the Akuma's head.

Timebreaker slid under his shield hand outstretched for his ankles, leaping up he tucked his legs up as he spun around. The back of her fingers brushed against the sole of his boot as she passed under him. He hit the ground in a crouch, sliding a bit across the asphalt.

Looking up time seemed to freeze. 

Alix was already back on her feet, hand out stretched towards Chris who was standing stock still Frozen. As if time itself was against him Nino watched as Alix's hand grazed over his shoulder causing Chris to completely freeze and the faint sight of him fading burned into his memory.

"Chris!" His eyes darted around for a moment before they locked onto Timebreaker, his fist clenched as he stood slowly, eyes creasing as he slowly began to walk forwards. Catching his wayward shield he quickly pulled his arm back before launching it forwards with more force then he had ever done before.

It whistled as it flew through the air, Timebreaker turning just in time to be able to see it and dodge out of the way, the edge of the shield scratching against the Akuma's glass visor. Leaving a tiny scratch. Turning back towards the hero Timebreaker was met with a fist to her Visor Covered face, sand her flat on her butt.

Carapace grabbed hold of her ankle before swinging around, throwing her harshly into a wall, the concrete cracking under the force. He stalked forwards as she stood back up, she threw out a sloppy punch which he easily dodged around and grabbed her wrist. Lifting her arm up he delivered a heavy knee to her gutt forcing her to double over, her free hand holding onto the impacted point.

Catching his Shield he reared his arm back, barely catching a glimpse of Alix's fear filled face before he drove his Shield forwards. The Akuma Dodged her head to the side, letting the object embed itself into the wall, reaching out with her free hand she tried to grab his.

Nino ripped his hand back before reach forwards and grabbed Timebreakers, squeezing both wrists so her hands where bent away from him he pulled her closer, peering down as they locked eyes. Whatever fear was in her face faded as Hawkmoths symbol glowed right in his. Pulling her away from the wall he threw her behind him, her skates making her spin around on her feet.

"Fortify!" His fist and arm glowed green, his being pulsing with energy as he spun towards the Akuma, fist launching right at her and connecting to her face. The sound of a crack echoed around the Trocadéro as the Akuma went flying backwards and sliding all the way to a stop on the other end.

Alix sat up on the other end dizzy and woozy, the left side of her Visor cracked all across the glass.

Not wanting to waste his usage of his power he ripped his Shield from the wall, causing chunks of concrete to fly everywhere, before he spun and launched it across the Trocadéro. When it hit the ground halfway it dug into it and kept going, tearing up stone and dirt as it went.

Alix barely managed to turn her body out of the way, the stone that was ripped up next to her dig into her side as the heroes weapon ripped through everything in its path.

Carapace stalked forwards as the last ebbs of energy washed off him. Before he could even get halfway Ladybug landed in front of him, hands outstretched as she put him to his chest, feet digging into the ground and pushing back against him to stop him from moving forwards.

"Carapace, that's enough. " she spoke in a whisper, locking eyes with her taller partner, wings fluttering in agitation. "Tell me, what's gotten into you?"

Nino's eyes darted to the where Chris was, seeing the last of him slowly fading away. Ladybug managed to get a look before the boy faded entirely, turning back she placed a hand to his cheek. "We'll bring him back, I promise."

" But not like this. Not like this. " 

Carapace breathed in slowly, relaxing his muscles before he hung his head. "I'm Sorry." Looking back up his eyes glided over Ladybugs head he sucked in a breath as The breaker skated towards them. Acting he used his right arm push Ladybug to the side and away, using his left he reached for her the Akuma's wrist.

Glancing up from her rough fall Ladybug saw both her partner and Akuma standing still. With a chuckle Timebreaker pulled her hand back, phasing right through Carapace as the bar on her skates raised up to full.

"Six whole minutes?" Alix turned to Ladybug, cracked Visor glaring down at her. "I guess the brute was worth something after all."

Jumping up Ladybug Swung her Yo-Yo next to her, daring her to make a move.

* * *

"Chloé, you and I both know Alix is just as well off as myself, now give it back before something bad happens." Adrien spoke, while still trying to reach for the watch. While Nino was processing that tidbit of info Chloé was frowning at Adrien, without breaking eye contact she clicked it open.

"Besides what's the worst that ca-aaahhhh!" Chloé shrieked she was pushed from behind. Nino dropped the banner as he launched forward and grabbed Chris eyes warily staring at the Akuma that had dropped down from above them.

The watch was launched from Chloé's hand, bounced down the steps before being run over by Alix's skates. I'm what would probably count as the weirdest reaction in history both Alix and The Akuma cried out at the same time.

"My watch! " That settled it, Nino began to drag Chris away bumping into Kim as the Akuma turned back up to the top of the building, Cracked visor on view, where Ladybug was standing. "This is your fault!"

" Come on. " Kim reached down and Picked up Chris, balancing him on his waist as he grabbed Nino by the shoulder. "We gotta go." Seeing as everyone else was scattering away he turned and followed after Kim as he ran. Looking back he saw the Akuma chasing after him, except, this one didn't have a cracked Visor anymore.

Placing a hand on Kims back he pushed him forwards as Alix reached out to them. Just as they were about to be grabbed a second akuma, the first one with the cracked Visor came from the side, pushing the first away from them.

"No!, Not them!"

" Why!? " Future Timebreaker looked at the present one, letting her see the crack that had been inflicted on her.

falling back from Kim, Nino ducked into a hiding place. Letting Wayzz escape his pocket as he watched the chaos. "Two akumas? And the same person? How's that possible? "

"Time travel of course." Nino gave Wayzz a skeptical look before glancing back, seeing Marinette running off and Ladybug trying to battle both Akuma's. Something wasn't adding up.

"Alright. Wayyz, Shell on!" Letting the magic wash over him he jumped out of his hiding place, Landing next to Ladybug he drove one of the Akuma's away. The other avoiding him. "Hey bug."

He was not expecting Ladybug to attach on to him, her arms wrapping around his torso as she buried her head into his collar. He froze slightly, eyes darting to keep an eye on the Akuma's.

Ladybug pulled back, resting her hands on his shoulders. "Sorry, I shouldn't have." Her eyes darted to where Kim and Chris were hiding , nodding she backed off. "Lets go."

Taking off his tool from his hip he was about to use it like his own version of a Yo-Yo, he would have loved to have had his own dollar skates right now, unfortunately his tool split off into halves. He didn't know what had caused that, deciding he didn't have time to figure it out now he dropped the pieces.

Turning around Nino ran towards the closest Akuma as Ladybug flew overhead, Nino jumped off a low pillar, tearing his fist back to punch the first Akuma. Their face turned towards them and Nino aimed for the centre of their cracked visor, they ducked under his arm and salted off behind him. Whipping his Shield off he spun around and held it up, instead of almost being hit Alix was just pointing at him as she slowly backed off.

"I am not messing with you brute. " Confused Carapace lowered his Shield before slowly walking forwards, cautious that Alix was trying for some angle. "I know what you can do, and I am not getting on the receiving end of that again. " Her eyes darted to behind him and he spun around, eyes landing on the second Akuma as they darted towards him.

Raising his arms to brace himself he flinched as he felt Ladybugs Yo-Yo wrap around him and plucked him off the ground. The two Akuma's regrouped as he was set down next to Ladybug.

Wait. Ladybug was on his right, who had grabbed him? Following the Wire it lead back to... Another Ladybug?

Pointing between both of them he tried to wrap his head around how there was two of them. " Uhh..."

"They're insane on their rollerblades."

"And unstoppable on the ground!"

"So, what if they were not on the ground?"

Nino's head spun back and forth between both Ladybugs, he was going to have a headache later from all of this. Also he was going to get an explanation for all of this later from Ladybug, his Ladybug? Time traveling Ladybug? Yep, that headache was coming on already.

The two Akuma's rounded back on the other end before turning away and skating off. "Looks like they're going to go back in Time again. "

"Lucky Charm!" Both Ladybugs caught their individual Lucky charms , both a bike lock and a cone.

"Ok, while you two figure that out, I'll stop them." Sprinting towards them he managed to pass in front of them before taking a hold of his Shield, holding it in front of him he envisioned a perfectly curved shape, something perfect not force them to turn back.

"Shell-ter!" Unlike before, where he'd have a dome shaped forcefield, he summoned a curved wall in front of him, forcing the two Akuma's to turn back towards the Ladybugs. One of which had to run her hand against the magic wall for support as they skated its length as a means to turn around.

From where he was he watched as one of the Ladybugs dove between the two Akuma's locking their feet together before landing in a roll. Much to the misfortune of them, they ended up going up a makeshift ramp wjere, with their feet off the ground, the two Ladybugs managed to rip one of their skates off. Snapping them in halve they both caught and purified the butterflies. 

He dropped his Shield as he began his leisurely stroll back to them, now that there was no threat to contend with.

"-ake care of him, ok? He's got a few soft spots. " One of the Ladybugs had her hand on the others shoulder, eyes peaking at where Chris and Kim were hiding. The other one peaked behind her at them too, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Ready?"

Nodding Both Ladybugs launched their separate Lucky Charms into the air. "Miraculous Ladybug!" He loved the sight of the Ladybugs flying over the city or well, area.

When he looked back down there was only one Ladybug and one Alix. Ladybug scooped up the repaired pocket watch and presented to the girl. " I believe this is yours? "

Alix gasped as she shot back up, taking the watch from her hands. "No way! You fixed it?"

"Fortunately the cure did the work," she placed her hands on the shorter girls shoukders. "You might not get so lucky next time, take care of it."

" Don't worry, I will. " Giving a two fingered salute Ladybug flew off, leaving Carapace and Alix on the floor as the other class members returned. Looking at the turtle hero she raised an eyebrow. "What?"

" You don't see me as a brute do you? " 

"What!? No!" Alix laughed as she stuffed her watch into her pocket. "I think you're the cooler one, dishing out hits and taking them like a champion... Did my Akuma self say that? "

"Something like that," the beeping of his miraculous brought him out of it, giving Alix a smile he broke off into a run. " Stay safe you lot! "

Alix just beamed, she got to beat Kim, got an awesome present and got to meet her favourite hero. Ignoring her Akumatisation, this was the best birthday she'd ever had and she relished in it as her classmates surrounded her again, some asking if she was ok, others apologising.

Even if a certain blonde was nowhere to be seen.


	9. Skating Woe's

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the wake of Timebreaker, Nino discovers something that might just be ground breaking for his super hero activites.
> 
> Now, if only he could keep his balance.

Leaning back Carapace let his back rest against the chimney, eyes glancing up at the starless sky. How he wished for one night without the lights of paris, just to be able to enjoy the night sky. Letting Paris' air fill his lungs, the bitter cold energizing him.

in his hands he held his second tool, the smaller tool was a near replica of his shield, with the exception of the four holes that resembled were a turtles legs would have gone. He still didn't have a name for it and the only thing Wayzz had commented was that it was for the sake of convinence, with it serving as his communicator instead of his shield. On top of the other few things it could do, again for convenience.

Palming it, he looked it over, there weren't any seams. No parts that could be taken off, yet... Back with timebreaker, it had split in half and become useless. Wayzz said that all miraculous tools were multipurpose in many, many ways. Some being able to do stuff that others couldn't.

Which begged the question. What had happened to it? What made it break apart? Wayzz had been no help beyond saying to experiment with it and recreate the events, not something easily done considering it was done during a time travel related Akuma attack. The headache he got after Ladybug had explained was enough to make him plug his ears so noise wouldn't make it worse.

A burst of wind blew over him, making his hood flutter and a shiver run down his back. He would have stayed at home to do this but the risk of being caught as Carapace in his room was too high at the moment. Especially with Chris being a little, finicky at the moment. Alix's Akumatisation had spooked him a little it seemed and he wanted to be around him a little more, sometimes sneaking into his room at night to sleep in his bed with him.

Nino couldn't blame him, He'd probably keep his eye on his brother at all available times if the roles were reversed. Tonight was his night though and as much as he hated that he had to do it, he'd told Chris that he'd needed one night to himself cause of a new 'headache' and locked his door after he'd gone in. Which was something he hadn't done... Ever.

Running his thumbs over his tool, Mini Shield? Tool Shield?, He thought back to a couple of days ago, back to the fight. Two Akumatised Alix's, Two Ladybugs, his class surrounding him as they hid. Staring at the object in his hands he watched as nothing happened, no movement, no action, no splitting apart. He wasn't entirely sure what he exactly had to do, there was no instruction manual to this, no-one to help him or guide him. Ladybug wouldn't be much help either, she was his age and no more experienced then he was.

Sighing he let his head lean against the bricks behind him, the cold barely able to get through his hood.

What was it he had done differently? Be worked up? Actively fighting? No, no. Wayzz had said that wouldn't factor in, just that his tools would respond to him. But how? Was it a want or a need? What had he wanted back then?

Sitting up he looked down at his hands, spinning his Mini Shield so he could look at all directions. He'd wanted to catch up to Alix. Raising his hands he gripped the Mini Shield on its bottom half and top half. He wanted skates to move faster. Gripping the sides he pulled as he thought about roller skates, a green line flashed down the middle between the top and bottom and he pulled them away from each other.

Simliarly as had happened before. With wide eyes he sat up further, bringing his feet closer, they weren't in the shape of skates yet but he had a hunch. Holding both sides to the outside of each foot, he imagined skates, green skates. Despite waiting on baited breath, nothing happened.

"Come on." He whispered as he gently shook the items as he bit his lip. Ready to give up he raised his foot to put it further out and he flinch he the piece in his hand clamped onto his foot, several sections from inside the tool folded and clamped over his foot, making it look like he had small metal plates covering it. Said metal plates looked oh so similar to when he used this to make a barrier, like back with Lady Wi-Fi.

Looking at the other one he raised his other foot, putting the other half to his foot he achieved the same result. The under and over sides of his Mini Shield were like one big wheel on the outside of his foot, while the plates thinly covered his feet and put a solid plate under his foot. On the other side of his feet where two, much smaller wheels, one just where he assumed his big toe started and another on the side of his heel.

He wasn't sure how... Practical, they were but this was magic, so he really shouldn't question the how's and why's of it all. Now to test them out, raising his hand up he used the chimney he was leaning on to balance himself, slowly he raised him self up, but feet almost slipping out from under him the whole time.

how did Alix stand when wearing skates?

Lifting one leg slowly and awkwardly he turned his foot so his heels were pointed towards one another. This was easier, straightening his back he could tell he had a significantly lower chance of slipping now.

Chuckling he looked at his feet, he couldn't believe it, he had skates, as a hero. This would help him get around faster, less need for Ladybug to drag his butt everywhere. Twisting his shoulders he prepared himself to begin skating, excitement taking over him.

Throwing one foot forwards he put it in front of him. Imbalanced, his feet slipped, sending him down onto the rooftop, face first.

Raising his head he frowned at nothing. Of course he didn't know how to magically skate... Great.

* * *

Stretching his neck he sat off from the side of his class, watching as they organised themselves for their next photo. He was happy for them, for Juleka, it was good to see the girl getting something she clearly needed.

Today has been... Hectic, to say the least. First the class photos, then the goth got Akumatised because Chloé had gotten Sabrina to lock Juleka in the bathroom. Now they were here, in the park, getting more pictures taken by the same photographer who had been doing the school photos.

Mainly thanks to both Marinette and Adrien. Marinette who managed to convince the man that it was unfair Juleka wasn't in the photo and Adrien, who was willing to pay the man for his time. And although some protested at the idea of only Adrien paying, they backed off when they realised the photographer charged in a price none... Almost none of them could pay.

Adjusting his cap so it wouldn't fall off he watched as Mylēne, Rose and Juleka all got in poses for their next set of Photos. His face twitched slightly as he looked at Jukeka, he could still feel the punch she had connected to His face... And the heel kick... And the headbutt.

Damn, Juleka had gone nuts, even after she'd managed to turn him into a clone of herself. He had to hope that it was simply due to her being Akumatised and not because Juleka was actually more terrifying then he first thought.

"Hey." Looking up he saw Alix standing above him, he patted the spot next to him and she sat down, bringing her knees to her chest. She'd been... Off the past couple of days, but he supposed that must have been down to being an akuma.

Alya had been down for a while, as had Kim, so it made sense that Alix would be the same. Opening his mouth he thought about what he should say, before closing his mouth.

"Do you..." Stopping he sighed, "Are you alright?"

" Yeah, " Alix turned her head so she could lean her cheek on her knee as she faced him. "Why?"

Adjusting his legs so they'd cross he rested his hands on his knee, his wristbands and miraculous moving around slightly. "You seem... Out of it, not yourself. Is everything ok?"

" why wouldn't it be? " Frowning he began to pick at the grass, pulling individual blades out.

"You're not as loud, not smiling, not boasting with Kim." She turned away and Nino followed her eyes, seeing them land on Chloé, who was at the entrance of the park, watching them all with Sabrina at her side. "You keep looking at Chloé," he didn't have to turn to her to know she was looking back at him. " I don't know your history with Chloé, if their is any and it's not my place but whatever it is, I think you need to talk to her about it. "

"Why should I?" Picking up several blades of grass he throw them in her face playfully.

"Because it's eating at you, I may have glasses but I'm not blind and... I think it would do you some good. " One way or another. Nino just wanted Alix to go back to normal, to be cocky and loud and boisterous.

"Can we... Not talk about this?" Alix slumped, finger running over the rim of her shoes as she turned her eyes down.

"Alright."

For a moment the two of them sat in silence, letting the laughs of their friends and classmates wash over them. Nino closed his eyes as the sun shone on him, warming him.

"Nino! Alix! Smile !" Raising their heads to Rose they faced the Camera man, Alix raised her fingers in a peace sign and shone a smile. Nino raised his left hand behind her head, giving her bunny ears with his fingers.

the Camera shuttered several times before it was lowered, Nino threw his arm down before Alix could see. Leaning back he breathed the fresh air of the park.

"Hey Alix, could you teach me to skate?" Blinking in surprise the short girl turned to him.

" Why? I didn't take you for the type to do tricks. " Which was technically true, Technically. If one didn't count his actions as Carapace, which, no-one should.

"Well, no I'm not, it's just that I want to be able to get around faster and I don't want to ride a bike on the road." His mom had been strict on that, even if he wasn't sure why.

" Lahiffe... You're boring. " Chuckling Alix shook her head before patting him in the knee. "If you make me a playlist, I'll do it."

Giving a gasp Nino leaned forward, placing a hand over his chest in mock offense. "Taking advantage of my passion? How dare you?... I'll see what I can do, if I can't I'll just... Pay you? I guess?"

Scoffing the girl shook her head. "I don't need your money, if you need help just say so, I'll tell you the music I like." Oh right, Nino mentally kicked himself for not realising that himself but hey, today had been one hell of a day.

" Now that, I can do. " Extending his hand he shook her hand. The girl tilted her head before squinting her eyes.

"You do have outdoor skates right?"

" There's different types? "

throwing her head back Alix groaned before she threw herself into the grass.

* * *

"You didn't have to do this Alix." Nino kept his arms crossed, hat pointed down and the hood of his jacket pulled over the top of his head. He was doing his best to not attract attention, he was a little embarrassed as he sat on of the benches provided by the sports store they were in.

Said girl was kneeling down, eyes roaming over the shelves of the stores selection of skates. She was here to, and he quoted 'Make sure he didn't Fuck up' when it came to picking out a pair of skates.

"You wanna learn how to skate right?" He did, he really did. He really believed that it would give him an edge in an akuma fight, or at least some of them.

"Yeah but-"

"No buts!" Alix stood up, pulling out a pair of Skates, they were mainly black but had pink lines going around the edges. "If you wanna learn how to skate then you're gonna need to listen to me." Alix frowned at the skates but handed one over to him. " Try it on, see if it fits, they're the only ones this big."

Accepting it he kicked off one shoe before slipping his foot inside, flexing his toes he could feel a little space at the end. He should have that, right? Running his hand down the side he frowned as he couldn't find the part to adjust their size.

"Are these not adjustable?" He accepted the second skate, dealing his show for it as Alix shook her head.

" Nope. " she popped the 'P' before adjusting the straps on the skates. "Adjustable ones are alright but they don't last as long, on top of which most of them are for kids, so they got them more sideways then directly under your feet. " Standing up he held her arms out to him. "Stand up."

Frowning he grabbed her hands and slowly raised himself, legs tensing in panic at the thought of falling over flat. Once he was stood up fully he had to look down to meet Alix's eyes, chuckling he raised a hand and pushed her head down playfully.

"I always forget how short you are, now you're even shorter. " A smile echoed in his lips and she pulled herself out from under his hand, the look of indignation on her face made him chuckle.

"One day I'll be taller then you, then you'll pay."

Laughing slightly louder he patted the girls shoulder. "I fear the day."

"Keep laughing and I'll push you over." He raised his hands in surrender, trying to not being Alix's wrath against him. Nodding to herself she eyed the skates. "If you're ok about the colour, then those will do fine, get them off so we can pay. "

sitting back down he undid the buckles before sliding them off. Putting his shoes back on he stretched his leg. Wayzz popped out his pocket slightly watching Alix walk away. "She seems nice, in a rough sort of way."

" Thats Alix for you, zero subtlety but she means well. "

* * *

Groaning, Nino put himself back onto his knees, ignoring Alix's laughing as he slowly got back onto his feet. He couldn't help that he kept falling, he wasn't used to having wheels for feet.

"10 Euro says that you were always falling over." He pointed at her accusingly, his feet slipping slightly under him and he struggled to keep his balance.

"No fair, I can't bet on something I know I'll lose." Extending his arms outwards he tried to keep uptight as Alix effortlessly skates around him, he knew this would take time, as all things worth doing did but he didn't quite like the learning curve he had. " I probably should have said about the safety gear too, sorry about that. "

"Not your fault, we both forgot." He rubbed his arm, feeling his newest scrape from where he hit the floor. He wasn't wearing any of the normal gear like Alix was, he didn't have pass out a helmet, even his jacket was off and sitting with his bag not to far from them, so not even that could vision his fall.

" I'll bring some spares next time, " getting behind him she kicked his feet to line his feet up straight, putting her hands onto his back she pushed him, making him roll slowly across the even ground. "Now try kicking off, like I showed you."

Fortunately, he was able to push off and gain some momentum, unfortunately he didn't keep it for long as she slowed to a stop. Twisting his body he looked behind him at Alix. "Its a start, now I just gotta do that without help, then figure out how to keep momentum."

" I swear a snail could move faster. " instead of responding his just stuck his middle finger up at her, giving her a full view of his thoughts.

Progress was progress in Nino's eyes and if he could just get the extreme basics down, he'd be able to practice as Carapace on his own. He couldn't wait to show Ladybug.

"Hey Nino," Turning back forwards, he caught sight of Juleka, who was also on skates. She was slowly rolling forwards, not fast enough to be going anywhere but not slow enough for one to think she was stopping. The goth girl skates around him, her hair fluttering in the wind she was making.

"Hey Juleka, what's up? " He'll admit, he was a little jealous at how easy Juleka made it look. Actually since when did Juleka use skates? He'd only ever seen her come in on a bike or walk.

"Not much, how's your face?" His face? Running his fingers across he cheeks he couldn't feel any scrapes or cuts, not even a bruise.

" Fine, why? "

"No reason. Anyway, I gotta go." And just like that she turned and left, footwork just as flawless as Alix's had been.

The shorter girl rolled up up next to him, watching the goth leave. "What was that about? "

He... Wasn't sure, actually. So he just gave a shrug and a non committed hum, he doubted it would do them any good to figure Juleka out, she always seemed like such a mystery. One which only Rose could understand.

* * *

Humming to herself, Marinette stated at her sketch pad. Normally she would have test sketches and designs of clothes that she would have liked to make. Styles and designs that would work together, Normally.

This time, she had a sketch of Carapace from the shoulder up. There was something... Familiar, with him. Some detail that connected deep within her. Lightly tracing a finger over the edges of the drawing she thought about how he could be familiar.

Her, now erased, future self seemed to have some inkling to who Carapace was. Or at least, it seemed that way, given how she... herself, they spoke about Him. With familiarity and she had to question how, someone from just give minutes in the future, seemed to know so much more.

What had happened in those five minutes that was so important that future her had a whole different perspective of her partner?

it wasn't possible that she had figured out his identity was it?

What if he was someone she knew? Someone close to her that she was familiar with and that was why future her looked at her Carapace with such, familiarity? If that was the case then, well she didn't want to think about it. It wasn't her place to figure out her partners identity, for any reason.

Her eyes peaked over her sketch pad, glossing over the many, many pictures of Carapace, and subsequently herself, that had littered her walls. A deep blush formed on her face at the idea of Carapace's civilian self, someone who she may or may not know, seeing all of the pictures.

She knew she could pass it off as being a fan of the heroes, why else would she have so many photos? Even if people pointed out there were more Carapace's pictures then Ladybug ones, it wouldn't matter, hopefully. Everyone was allowed a favourite hero and it wasn't like she could be her own favourite anyway.

Breathing deeply she flipped the page and picked up her pencil, trying to figure out something new to create, spinning around on her chaise she faced away from the many photos, as to not distract herself.

The ever present thought that she could possibly know her partner, stayed in the back of her mind, distracting her from focusing. If she ever learned who he was, she was gonna ban him from her room, if only to save herself the embarrassment of having his face plasters all over her walls.

**Author's Note:**

> Ladybug redesign by lunian on Tumblr here: https://lunian.tumblr.com/post/187946955609/me-my-salty-ass-who-is-asking-for-justice-for


End file.
